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sunlightmurdock · 2 years

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Ceasefire | 0.1 | Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

Prologue | Masterlist | Next Chapter

Synopsis: Bradley Bradshaw is in San Diego, summoned to Top Gun for the first time. Commander “Hyde” Simpson is his flight instructor, and she doesn’t have time for schoolboy crushes.

Warnings: ex-husband!beausimpson, divorce, age gap (rooster is somewhere between 26-28, reader is 38), power imbalance between instructor and student aviator, swearing, angst, smut, pinv, oral (f&m)

…

You move out on the fourth week of class. A year ago, you could have never imagined finding four weeks of sleeping under the same roof as your husband to be so difficult. Everyone in the house was walking on eggshells around Beau.

He never lost his temper with you, and especially not around his children, but he made it clear that he wasn’t happy. He spent most of the time in his office.

You were actively looking at properties the entire time, but the urgency came in the third week. You were packing lunches for the kids whilst Beau was standing to your left, making a coffee. One of the rare times he had let himself be alone in a room with you since you told him you were leaving him.

“Where’s your ring?”

You had paused, halfway through cutting the crusts off of Taylor’s sandwich. Your eyes had fallen down to your ring finger. To Beau, it looked exceptionally bare. To you, it looked exactly the way it had for over a week by that point.

“I stopped wearing it.” You answered softly, without turning to look at him. There’s a heavy silence between the two of you. He sets his mug down on the island, leaving his half-made coffee to go cold.

He passes by you without a word, sulking off back to his office.

You know that Taylor is finding it difficult to grasp. She knows what divorce is — she has friends with mommies and daddies that don’t live together anymore. She just doesn’t understand that situations change. In her head — divorced parents were divorced parents and together parents were together parents.

Dylan doesn’t want to talk about it. He told you on the way to school drop off that he was happy if you were happy. That isn’t as true as he would like you to believe, you know him well enough to know that for certain.

Beau barely acknowledges you telling him that you’re moving out — beside the initial custody argument.

You offered fifty-fifty. He’s hurting. He wants full.

You got the keys for your new place on Wednesday. Dropped the kids off at your mother’s house on Friday night — giving you Saturday and Sunday morning before your mom drops the kids home, to make your new house a home.

It’s nowhere near as big as the place you shared with Beau, but it’s nice. Two storey [ ] with a yard, still close enough that they can stay in the same school and see their dad as often as they would like.

You set up your bed on Friday night just so that you don’t have to spend a second in that big, old house with Beau, alone. You just can’t stand the way that he looks at you these days.

You move all of the furnishings in first. You let yourself think that you’re doing a great job bringing everything in from the u-haul and finding a new place for it in the house.

Until it comes to putting the kids’ rooms together.

You growl in frustration, dropping the screwdriver to the hardwood.

Whoever decided to make the instructions for furniture picture only was going to have to fight you one day soon. Words would help. Words would make this entire situation infinitely easier. You’re in your own head about it more than anything. If you splinter a piece of wood on one of these bed frames, your kids will show up in a strange place with no place to sleep.

You’ve already uprooted a huge part of their life. There’s no way in hell you’re letting them turn up here without somewhere to call their own. You check your watch. It’s already 2pm. You still have half a truckload of stuff to unpack, and two bedrooms full of furniture to build.

You should’ve been able to do this. When you had told Beau you were leaving him, it hadn’t once occurred to you that the hardest part of divorce would be conquering flat-pack furniture. You’re strong, and smart and you’ve always been so independent. Flat-pack furniture should not be your downfall.

And yet, here you are.

Surrounded by pieces one through fifteen, and bunches of screws A through H - with no idea how they’re supposed to fit together.

You could call Beau. He’s only twenty minutes away. You know he’s sitting in that big, empty house, all by himself. He’s probably waiting for you to call him. Probably just waiting to know that you can’t do it without him.

You won’t give him the satisfaction.

You pick up your glass and take a sip of the mediocre wine your mom had given you as a housewarming present. The liquid swishes around your mouth as you pass it from cheek to cheek. You stare at the unassembled furniture. You make a mental note to buy yourself something a little stronger as a real housewarming present once you’re done with this crap. You’re reminded of playing Lego Star Wars with Dylan. If only assembling things in real life was as easy as it was on that game.

That’s when it clicks. The number in your phone from two Fridays ago. Bradley. Sweet, willing, eager Bradley. ‘Call me for anything’ Bradley. He did say anything.

It’s been easy enough to ignore him so far.

You purse your lips and consider whether it’s an abuse of your power to have one of your students do your dirty work for you. It does seem kind of like you would be taking advantage of the fact that this boy clearly has feelings for you. But - it’s not your fault that men will do anything for a chance to get in your pants. You could do with the help.

You wish you could say that you debated it for longer than a minute. Even more than that, you wish he didn’t pick up as quickly as he did.

“Hello?” He pants. Your brows scrunch. He’s really out of breath.

“Hey, it’s Hyde… are you… in the middle of something?” You ask tenderly. He’s breathing on the other end of the line like he just got done running a marathon. He quickly reassures you that he isn’t busy. “Okay. Um… I need a favour. If I texted you my address, do you think you could help me with something?”

He agrees. So quickly. Quick enough that you regret asking him before the call is even over. You sit back against the wooden floor and stare at the disassembled furniture for a moment. This is a mistake.

You make as much progress as you can before he arrives, so that he doesn’t have to be here for as long. You’re about halfway through building Taylor’s big-girl-bed when the doorbell rings.

You push yourself up and walk to the front door. Regret fills you for not tidying the place before he got here - there are boxes everywhere. You correct yourself. Your intention isn’t to impress him. Maybe this will be the thing to finally put him off. Hopefully after he’s done what you need him to do.

“Hi,” You pull open the front door and look him up and down. He’s standing there in jean shorts, flip flops and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt with a tank top under it. He grins at you and pushes his sunglasses up onto his head.

His cheeks are flushed and a little red. Those stupid puppy dog eyes are looking at you like you’re the best thing they’ve ever seen. Not to mention, he’s quite literally glistening. It’s a hot day. You can tell he’s been out in the sun, his chest is a little too red.

Your smile falters slightly, “You’re… really sweaty.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” Rooster chuckles, wiping his forehead with the back of his palm. “I was playing football down at the beach with a couple of the guys.”

You swallow. Nod your head. Remind yourself to breathe.

“Of course you were.” You mutter under your breath as you step out of his way and motion for him to come inside. Of course he was. You can picture it now. You bet every woman on the beach couldn’t take their eyes off of him. The tank top is thin and exceptionally dry for how warm his cheeks look. Meaning he was most likely playing shirtless.

You don’t want or need to think about that right now. It’s already been a long day.

“Sorry?” Rooster didn’t quite catch what you said. Thank god.

“Nothing, um - this way.” You walk off ahead of him. He happily trails along behind you. He’s never seen you out of your work clothes before. You’re just wearing a simple sundress, nothing special, and your hair is claw clipped up out of the way. His eyes are on the back of your neck as you walk up ahead of him.

He imagines what it would be like to touch. To run his fingertips along the length of your spine. In lieu of that, he trails the same distance with his eyes. They linger on the curve of your ass, the way the material hugs it. The way he could surge forwards and press you into any wall in this house and just push that fabric up out of his way.

Rooster takes a deep breath. He swallows, then turns his focus to the architecture.

“Beautiful home, Commander Simpson.” He remarks politely.

You feel bad for having him come all the way out here, taking him away from his friends in the middle of summer to have him build furniture.

“Thank you, Bradley, that’s very sweet of you.” You stop outside of the kitchen, figuring that the least you could do is supply him with free alcohol for his troubles. “Can I get you something to drink? I have beer, wine, or lemonade.”

“Beer’s fine.” He smiles and leans against the kitchen doorframe as you step into the kitchen to get him his drink. It’s as you’re pulling a can from the fridge that you notice just how big he is. His head isn’t that far from the top of the door frame, that door frame’s at least six and a half feet tall. He’s broad too.

Your eyes are on him for a second too long, the fridge door hanging open as you stare at him.

“Did you want a glass? Ice?” You ask as you set the can on the kitchen island. Rooster shakes his head and steps forward to take it.

“No thanks, this is perfect.” He smiles once more. Isn’t it? Inviting him here was a bad idea. You know that now. Now that the only thing stopping you from tackling him to the ground and putting your mouth on every inch of that tanned, muscled skin is this kitchen island between the two of you.

“So, what did you need my help with?” He taps the top of the can for make sure it won’t fizz too much when he opens it, then pulls back the tab. You watch the way the material of that ugly shirt tightens around his bicep as his arm bends to bring the beer to his mouth. His lips cover the edge of the can. Then his Adam’s apple bobs in his throat as he takes a sip.

You watch the condensation drip from the bottom of the can onto the reddened skin of his chest, the droplet sliding below the fabric of his tank top.

Badideabadideabadidea. This was a bad idea.

This is going to make a funny story for your friends to hear. You inviting over one of your students, who you know has a crush on you, making him do your dirty work and then checking him out whilst he works. This is a HR nightmare. It might make a funny story someday, but right now, alarm bells are going off in your head.

You close your mouth. Find the neurological function to make yourself nod. Lift your hand and tap the counter to remind yourself to move.

“Right,” You’re back in the room. You’re Commander Simpson. He’s a Lieutenant. That’s all. Rooster doesn’t seem to have noticed your temporary mindlessness, “Um… I was trying to figure out how to build some furniture, and the instructions are all pictures - and I thought back to how you said you were a visual learner, and um…”

He watches you, lips quirking as he waits for you to finish your sentence. This is ridiculous. You should not be getting this hot and bothered over someone who was in high school when you were pregnant for the first time. You collect yourself.

“I was just wondering if you might be able to help me figure it out.” You finalise calmly.

“Sure, I’m great at this kinda thing,” Rooster agrees, “I love building stuff.”

He does. Genuinely. But truthfully, you could’ve asked him to clean the gutters and he would’ve done so with a smile on his face.

You’ll never know how hard it was for him to try to control his expression as he left the beach twenty minutes earlier. The urge to grin as big as possible was truly difficult to combat.

“Okay, great. I’ll show you what we’re working with.” You step out from behind the kitchen island and nod for him to follow you. He trails behind, looking around at the place as you lead him. It’s nice. Much nicer than his apartment near the beach with Jake and Javy. That’s kind of a man cave. He imagines you wouldn’t like it too much.

His presence behind you is heavy as you lead him upstairs. He hopes you’re headed to the master bedroom. His eyes are still on your ass as you walk up ahead of him. Bradley’s brain is working in overdrive right now, trying to figure out how to make a move without freaking you out. Without overstepping.

You stop at the end of the hall. Point to Taylor’s room on the left, then Dylan’s room on the right.

“You have two kids?” He knows this. He saw the picture on your desk. They’re cute kids. You hope that this puts him off.

“Uh-huh. Taylor’s five, Dylan’s eleven.” You tell him. His face doesn’t change, his expression remains calm and positive. You fight back a scowl.

“Wow. I can’t believe you have an eleven year old.” He tells you.

You stare at him, expressionless. Maybe for a second too long. You stop once he shifts uncomfortably and scrunches his brows slightly, worried that he has said the wrong thing.

“I just mean, because-“

“Rooster.” You interrupt, raising your palm to stop him. He shuts up. You shake your head slightly. “I didn’t ask you to come over so that you could flirt with me. I’m flattered, but this is not going to happen. Are we clear?”

“Crystal.” He agrees. The look in his eye lets you know that he doesn’t actually agree. He passes his beer into his other hand, “But I can’t promise not to tell you how pretty you look, Mrs. Simpson.”

“Commander.” You know he knows that. He’s testing you to see how committed you are to the identity of being a married woman. “And easy on the Simpson. I’m still debating getting rid of it.” - and you just played right into his hands.

Bradley smiles with his back to you as he steps into Taylor’s room and looks around, then composes himself before he looks at you over his shoulder. “What’s your maiden name?”

You pause, leaning against the doorframe. You debate not telling him. It would set a principle, but would but ultimately pointless. He could just check in work on Monday. Your maiden name is clear as day in your Top Gun class portrait. So, you lean your head against the doorframe and you tell him.

He nods. Then, he says your full name. Your first name and your maiden name together.

“I like it. Doesn’t sound as scary as Commander Simpson.” He decides. He crouches down and grabs the sheet of instructions from the floor, mulling over the pictures. You watch him. Beer in one hand, instructions in the other. Sunglasses on his head. Gold cross necklace dangling between his collarbones. Your gaze lingers there.

You wouldn’t have pegged him as a man of faith.

“Maybe I’ll stick with Commander Simpson, then.” You answer. He looks up at you through his lashes and smiles.

He shrugs his broad shoulders slightly. “Hyde works too.”

You chuckle. Then nod towards the pieces of wood on the floor. Time to get this conversation back on track. “The beds are the most important thing, because they’ll be here tomorrow and obviously they’re going to need somewhere to sleep.”

“Sure, makes sense.” Rooster agrees. He shrugs the Hawaiian shirt off of his shoulders and drops it to the floor. The way his eyes meet yours as the fabric falls to the ground tells you that that was an extremely tactical move. Your lip quirks. He might as well be flexing for how much he’s trying to impress you right now. “Got it.”

You nod your head, pushing yourself off of the doorframe as he settles down to sit on the floor of your daughter’s new room. He grabs the base of the bed and pulls it up to rest on his knees, then examines the bags of screws. Right to it. He makes quick work of figuring out which pieces are which and which screws he needs.

You watch for a moment. It’s clear from this glimpse of him at work that you’ve been neglecting your more personal needs these last few weeks. That’s all that this is. That’s the only rational explanation for this. You haven’t slept with Beau in two months now, and you’ve been so busy, and you just haven’t felt like taking care of yourself. Clearly, after Bradley leaves, you need to spend some time alone to tend to those needs. That’ll clear your head.

Once you have made this decision, you bring yourself to stop staring at the way the muscles in his arms move as he begins to put the bed together.

“Should I stay and help?” You ask. Is it wrong to treat him like a handyman? - Probably. But you really can’t stay and watch much more of this. It’s regressive, honestly, what seeing a man at work does to you.

“No, this won’t take me long. If you’ve got other stuff you need to be doing, I’ve got this handled.” Rooster looks up at you, big brown eyes and all, and answers you with a smile. You nod your head.

“Alright. I’ll be downstairs if you need anything.” You tell him. You turn and head downstairs.

Without the added pressure of wanting to physically assault furniture, you actually manage to make a good amount of progress. You empty the remainder of the truck, even if that means filling your garage with boxes for later. They’re all things that can wait. After that, you finish getting the living room unpacked and decluttered. It actually looks worthy of being seen by the time you’re done.

About an hour after you originally left him, you decide to check on Rooster. You grab him another cold beer from the fridge and pad barefoot through the house. A dangerous game when there are loose screws around. As you walk up the stairs, your brows furrow. The hallway is suspiciously tidy. There aren’t screws on the floor anymore.

Only, Bradley isn’t where you left him. Your lips part in surprise as you step into Taylor’s room. Not only is her bed built, but so is everything else. The wardrobe, the dresser, her colouring desk. Her curtains are even up. Granted, this is all flatpack furniture. It’s probably pretty easy to put together if you know what you’re doing. You understand that he did this just to impress you. Well, you’re impressed.

You press a hand over your mouth. You can’t help but compare him to Beau. This would’ve taken Beau weeks to get around to. When Taylor was born, her nursery wasn’t finished until a week after her first birthday, and that was after you finished it with your dad on Labour Day weekend. Beau was just always too busy.

“Rooster?” You call out, wanting to thank him. Maybe wanting to kiss him a little bit too. You shake your head.

“In here.” He calls back. You turn and cross the hallway into Dylan’s room. Dylan’s bed is built and Bradley’s working on his desk now. Your jaw hangs open.

Your eyes fall immediately to the folded Hawaiian shirt on the floor, and the tank top that has joined it, messily discarded on top of it. Your eyes land on him. He’s on his knees, not looking at you, attaching a metal leg to the top part of the desk. The gold cross on the chain hangs loosely over his collarbones as he works. He’s leaning forwards slightly, brows furrowed as he focuses.

He knows you’re standing there. He knows what he’s doing.

You’re grateful he’s so focused, because it means he doesn’t notice the way your eyes linger on his bare chest. It isn’t your fault. The way the muscles in his arms contract each time he turns the screwdriver would have anyone staring, you’re sure of it.

Finally, he lifts his head and looks up at you through his lashes. He looks at the beer in your hand, then back at your face, “Is that for me?”

“Yeah.” You realise, letting out a breath as you extend the drink towards him. He sets the screwdriver down and stands to take it. You watch as he brings himself to his feet, standing in just jean shorts, his boxers peeking out just slightly from the waistband.

Your eyes trail up, towards the soft line of hair on his stomach, to the small patch on his chest, stopping to admire each ab on the way up. Rooster watches the way you look him over. He bites his cheek to keep from grinning. Or worse, talking and ruining this moment.

“I just wanted to say how much I appreciate you helping me today, you’re — you’re a lifesaver, really.” You breathe, folding your arms over your chest as you lean against the doorframe to your son’s room.

Rooster shrugs his shoulders like he isn’t thrilled with the praise he’s receiving, “Happy to help. Plus, like I said — I love this stuff. It’s kinda therapeutic. Some people do puzzles, I build flat-pack furniture.”

You laugh softly and this time he does grin at you, pleased with himself for making you smile. There’s a beat of silence between the two of you. He doesn’t want to speak again, he’s worried he won’t be able to stop and he’ll scare you off with word vomit.

“I’m almost finished with this room, if it’s alright?” He nods back down to the half constructed desk. You nod your head quickly and take a step back.

“Sure, of course.” You breathe out. “Um… well, I’ve got a few things left to unpack in my room. So, I’ll - I’ll be right across the hall. Okay?”

Well, now he knows where your room is. And you just invited him to head over once he’s done in here. He nods his head, chewing on his cheek for a moment, “Sure thing.”

“Okay.” You turn and walk towards your room and shake your head. This is ridiculous. You’ve never been floored by a set of abs before. You roll your eyes at your own behaviour as you push the door half shut behind you.

Rooster finishes Dylan’s room. Desk, dresser, hangs the curtains. Then, he walks the length of the hallway and nudges your door open, knocking as he opens it. You were expecting him to take longer. You’re sitting on the floor, flicking through a photo album that you came across.

“Finished already?” You ask, looking up at him in the door way. You notice that he has failed to put his shirt back on. You look him over, then look back down at the photo album and turn the page away from your wedding pictures. Rooster crosses the room without waiting for permission, and crouches beside you. He mhm’s and tilts his head to look at the pictures.

You turn your head and scrunch your brows, fighting back a smile at his sudden confidence.

“Is this your daughter?” Rooster asks as he points towards the toddler on the bottom left. You smile softly.

“My son.” You correct. Dylan was a mama’s boy growing up. Mama had longer hair, Dylan wanted longer hair. Beau had taken him for a haircut before his first day of Kindergarten. Dylan had loved his big-boy hair but you had cried for hours. He looked too grown up, too much like his dad.

“Look at those freckles.” Rooster smiles. Your eyes are on him. He chuckles softly as his attention turns to a picture of Dylan with Spider-Man face paint. Realising that you aren’t looking at the album anymore, Rooster turns his head to look at you. He’s kneeling right next to where you’re sitting. He’s far, far too close.

You look back to the album and flip the page. Rooster gasps.

“Wow, look at you!” He leans in closer, his bare shoulder brushing against yours. You look down at the vacation picture he’s staring at. It’s you with Dylan from nine years ago. You’re in Florida in this picture. You’re at the beach. You’re in a bikini, your hip is popped out and you’re laughing towards the camera.

Dylan’s almost two in the picture. You’re both down by the waves, walking back up towards the dry sand, each of you with one hand on the handle of his bucket filled with water. You remember that day so clearly. The water was to fill the moat around the sandcastle you and Beau had spent hours building, with extremely minor assistance from your toddler son.

That had been such a fun day.

“He looks just like you.” Rooster smiles. You aren’t sure yet if Rooster knows who your husband is. You’ve never hidden your relationship with Beau, but in the interest of preserving your work-life balance, you don’t exactly publicise it either. Everyone always says Dylan looks just like his dad. All he got from you was his smile.

“Can - May I?” He remembers that day in your office as his hand reaches past you for the edge of the page. You watch his hand pass by you. This can’t go on. You grab his wrist, wrapping your fingers around tanned skin.

“Rooster, I know what you’re doing.”

He looks at you, caught. Then, he smiles, a mischievous glint in his eye, “What am I doing?”

You could tackle him. Space. You need space. You push yourself to your feet, taking a few steps back to put some distance between the two of you, “You come over here all sweaty and… ugh, and then you take your shirt off and you’re so helpful and polite — and you just need to get it through your head that this is not going to happen!”

He watches you. Bradley tries not to smile. He nods seriously, like he understands. He’s not even on the same chapter, much less the same page.

“Okay? Ever!” You reiterate.

“Ever?” Rooster’s lips quirk. He tries to stop himself from smiling, but fails. The twinkle in his eye makes you want to scream.

“Ever!” You bite back. “It can’t. I’m your instructor, we have a professional relationship and it’ll never be anything more. That’s that.”

He nods. Everything about what he says next tells you that he understands what you have said. The gentle okay, the competent nodding. But it’s the look in his eye that tells you he thinks he still has a chance.

“Stop looking at me like that!”

“Like what?” He laughs, shrugging his stupid, strong, broad shoulders at you. He pushes himself up from the ground, still grinning at you.

“You know like what!”

“I just think you wouldn’t regret giving me a chance.”

“Every guy your age thinks they’re good in bed. They’re not.” You squint your eyes at him. Maybe you’re trying to convince yourself more than him. Nonetheless, he listens. Which makes it even worse. Beau would ignore you until you calmed down. Not Bradley. He wants to hear this. “Why would I put my entire reputation, everything I’ve worked for through my career, on the line for a five minute fuck with a kid who probably hasn’t made a woman cum in his entire life?”

“I’ve made women cum.” Bradley answers defensively. He holds himself back from telling you how many times. Because he knows exactly how many times.

“Every guy thinks they have.” You’re still dubious. This is still not happening.

“I have!” He insists. “Y’know, I’d be happy to show you-“

He takes a step forward, you take three steps back and point a finger at him accusingly. He raises his palms in surrender.

“Damn it, Bradley — what is the matter with you? - Why can’t you just go point those puppy-dog eyes at someone your own age?”

His lip quirks. That might not have been a compliment, but he appreciates the fact that you think he has cute eyes anyway. He licks his bottom lip, tilting his head. His eyes fall down to look you over before he finally shrugs and explains himself.

“I think you’re beautiful. I think you’re funny, you’re smart — actually, I can’t stop thinking about you.” He admits. He isn’t sheepish about it at all. He looks you in the eye as he says it. “And I think that I’m pretty good in bed. But… if I’m not, then maybe you could teach me a few things.”

This time he takes another step toward you and you stay where you are. He takes another step. Then another. A few more. Until he’s standing in front of you. He reaches out tenderly and touches your waist, stroking the curve above your hip with his thumb.

“You know I’m a fast learner.” He whispers.

You look up at him. Those soft, longing, puppy-dog eyes are staring down at you. Waiting for your answer. You do know that he’s a fast learner. He’s an excellent student. He doesn’t feel the need to say anything else. That’s good, because if he had, you might’ve combusted.

There’s silence between you as you look over his features. Bradley knows that this is make or break. He leans forwards, closes his eyes.

“Ah- stop.” He jolts and pulls back, blinking at you, afraid he’s done something wrong. Your first instinct is to shove him. The rational side of your brain wins this argument and you don’t push him, but you still need him — and his fucking perfect torso — away from you. “Sit down.”

Bradley hesitates. His brow furrowed slightly, lips parting like he might have something to say. You point at the edge of your bed sternly. Ultimately, the teacher’s pet in him takes control. He stumbles back and sits on the edge of your bed with his hands in his lap. He smiles at you.

It takes real willpower to not comment on how soft your sheets are. He wonders where you got them from. His aren’t anywhere near this nice.

You relish in the distance, like it finally gives you room to breathe. Your lungs fill and deflate a few times over, grateful for the sense of calm each breath brings you.

He’s just looking at you. Strong and tanned, a grown man, sitting on your bed and waiting for you to tell him he isn’t in trouble.

“Talk me through it.”

“What?” Bradley seems confused. There’s still such eagerness behind those eyes. He wants to do what you ask of him, he just doesn’t know what you want from him. This isn’t entirely his fault. You know you’ve been giving him somewhat mixed signals.

So, you’re as clear as you can be.

“Tell me what you’d do to me,” You watch his eyes glint with excitement. He smiles slightly. “If I let you. I’ll decide if I think it’s worth it.”

You watch him shift. He leans back on his palms, parting his knees a little as he takes a moment to unashamedly look you over. It feels good to do so. He’s tired of having to steal glances at you during class. Truthfully, last week he had a kink in his neck for two days because of how long he had spent with his head tilted, watching the way you looked bending over your desk to grab something.

“I’m not the best with words.” He admits sheepishly. You watch a gorgeous terracotta spread onto his cheeks, warming his chest.

You maintain your cool composure. You know that you’re the one with all of the power here. He’ll never know you’re bluffing. You fold your arms over your chest. “How about you try, Lieutenant?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Rooster breathes out, clearly excited by the fact that you just pulled rank on him. Your lip twitches at this knowledge. “I-I would… alright, fuck, um… Well, I haven’t stopped thinking about tasting you since I first saw you.” He shifts but doesn’t stand, he swallows nervously. You bite your cheek, not wanting to give away your feelings about what he just said yet.

“So first,” He leans back on his palm, breathes steadily and continues, “I’d kiss you. Show you how good I am at that.” He grins, amused and half-embarrassed. He bites his lip and fiddles with the ring on his finger. “I-I’d…”

You watch.

It’s clear that his mind is in overdrive. It’s not that he doesn’t know what he wants to do to you, it’s that he doesn’t know what he wants to do first. You swallow at the realisation.

Bradley’s staring at you and trying to ignore his cock stirring in his shorts as he thinks of you naked. Under him. On top of him. In front of him. He shifts slightly. He doesn’t know whether to start thinking about something less sexy, or to keep talking.

He doesn’t have time to decide.

You rush forwards, pressing a knee into the mattress, swinging your other around his hip, grabbing the back of his neck as your ass rests against his thighs.

You grab the back of his neck, pulling him forwards until your mouth is on his. He’s been waiting for this, and he doesn’t waste a second in making sure you know you’ve made the right decision. His arm snakes around your waist, pulling you tight against him.

It’s desperate and fast as his other hand slides up into your hair, controlling the way your mouth moves against him.

Beau hated facial hair. He found it untidy and unprofessional. You loved the feeling of scruff on your cheeks and your thighs but it was a rare occasion that you experienced that with Beau. With Bradley, that stupid 80s moustache is everything you’ve been missing.

His hands skim down your sides, gliding over the curve of your ass and pulling you forward. He grinds his hips forwards against you and squeezes at your backside, groaning gently against your lips.

You relax in his arms, lips parting just enough for him to slip his tongue into your mouth, caressing it against yours.

Your fingertips skim over his muscles shoulders, down onto his back. His lips move against yours as your hands explore his torso. You rake your nails along his shoulder blades. Revel in the feeling of him holding you, kissing you.

Bradley stands and turns, placing one knee onto the mattress, holding you tighter against him as he lowers you down onto it. He settles between your legs, rolling his hips forward against your core. Your dress bunches up around your waist as he grinds against you.

“You always smell so good.” He murmurs affectionately against your mouth before lowering his head to kiss softly at your throat. He slides his hand up along the length of your neck, taking your jaw between his index finger and thumb, keeping you where he needs you. Your head lulls back willingly against the sheets, exposing your neck to him.

He works soft kisses along the length of your throat, his fingertips skimming along the soft skin of your thighs, his hips grinding forwards. It hits you like a tonne of bricks when he pulls back to look at you. Those pretty, brown eyes.

The gold cross dangles forwards off of his collarbones, grazing your lips. You open your mouth and stick your tongue out, letting the metal fall against your tongue. Bradley watches, his arms planted on either side of his head, a soft smile toying at his lips.

“Fuck,” He breathes out. His hands push up along your thighs, squeezing every inch or so until he’s at your hips. His eyes flicker downwards and linger between your legs. He swallows, “You’re so sexy.”

You lift your chin, tilting your head slightly as your eyes fall down to admire the way he looks kneeling between your legs.

His fingers reach the edge of your dress. He runs the fabric between his fingertips and looks back up at you. Asking silently for permission. You give a soft nod and lift yourself so that he can get rid of it. Bradley’s hands move knowledgeably, firm on your sides as he guides the fabric up, up, until it’s not covering you anymore.

He drops the dress down onto the floor and sits back on his knees.

You stretch your arms out above your head, extending them across the mattress behind you. His eyes glint excitedly. “Is this what you had in mind?” You breathe out.

Bradley grins as his fingertips curl around your hips. He tugs you closer to him, grabbing and squeezing at the soft skin of your thighs. He shakes his head, “So much better than I could’ve imagined.”

He moves, leaning down and pressing his lips to your collarbone. His mouth moves slowly, firmly. His tongue grazes your skin as he pulls away. Your instinct is to close your eyes, to give in to the warm feeling his mouth sends through you — but you have to see this. You can’t take your eyes off of him. Each kiss ends with his tongue grazing your skin and a soft sigh slipping your lips.

His lips work along your bare torso, leaving soft, open-mouthed kisses in his path. He pauses when he reaches your breasts, squeezing them in his hands.

Bradley groans, grazing his teeth along your right breast and he kneads the left in his hand. His hips grind forwards against the mattress, searching for friction, as he takes your nipple into his mouth. You exhale softly, sliding your fingers up into his sandy curls, keeping his mouth on you.

“Mmm.” Bradley’s heart soars as the sound leaves your mouth. He’s been daydreaming for four weeks about what you would sound like, and it’s so much better than he could have ever hoped to hear it in real life. He’s spurred on, even more desperate to please you now, flicking his tongue against the sensitive bud, pinching the other between his index and thumb. He pulls away, grazing his teeth lightly over the skin - just enough to make you shiver.

Then his trail of filthy kisses continues. His nose grazes your sternum as his mouth works towards your navel. His hands are strong and capable, holding you in place by your ribs. You remind yourself that he’s one of the best fighter pilots in the world - behind you, of course he knows what to do with his hands. You’ve been underestimating him.

Perhaps on purpose to deny yourself the same luxury of daydreaming. It’s almost dismaying to know that you’ll be aching for this feeling again once it’s gone. Part of you was hoping that this would confirm to you that he’s just a boy posing as a man - a kid with no idea how to please a woman. His eyes are on you as he sticks out his tongue and trails it in a line across your stomach. From your ribs, over your bellybutton, ending with a desperate and open mouthed kiss to your bikini line.

You think that he’s going to go all the way. His hands slide down to your hips, fingertips curling into the edges of your panties on either side. He groans softly, closing his eyes. Then, his mouth works more kisses, dirty and possessive, against your hips, lips nudging at the hem of your panties. But you don’t feel like you’re kept waiting. If he told you that this was the main event, you think you would be okay with that.

It’s odd. You can feel his eagerness in his movements, his desperation to please in the way his tongue moves against your skin. It’s been a long time since someone has burned for you in the way that Bradley so clearly does.

“There’s so many things I want to do to you.” Bradley mutters against your skin.

“So, impress me.” You tell him. Your confidence is false. You just need him to think you’ve still got your sense about you, when truthfully, if you had any - you wouldn’t be in bed with one of your pilots.

Bradley lifts his head. His chin grazes the edge of your panties as he does. He smiles up at you. “Yes, ma’am.”

You chuckle softly. Rooster’s fingers pull gently at your underwear, he guides it down just an inch or so. His mouth is on your hips, leaving kisses against each one, pulling slowly at the fabric, moving his mouth with it. His eyes are on you, smooth honey and shining amber. His mouth works alone your pubic bone, soft kisses, gentle flicks of the tongue.

Then his mouth is on your clit as soon as it’s exposed to him. It isn’t rushed. It’s just what he needs, what he’s been waiting for. He groans against you, working his tongue in soft circles around the throbbing bundle of nerves. His eyes are still on you. Your eyes are closed. He doesn’t stop what he’s doing as he admires the way your tits rise and fall with each deep breath you take.

His hands trail from your hips, up and along your sides. His hands roam your skin. Move up and back down again. He revels in the feeling of you under his fingertips, on the tip of his tongue.

“S-Shit.” The realisation is all-consuming. You don’t mean to say anything until the word is already out there. This is not the last time you’re going to let this man into your bed, is it?

Rooster hums contentedly at your praise, his hands slide back down to your thighs to squeeze at the muscle. He pulls back just long enough to get your underwear the rest of the way down your legs, guiding your right leg over his shoulder as he settles back down into his previous position. His hand grabs at the back of your left thigh, he lifts it up and out of his way.

You aren’t struggling against him, but you can feel his grip on you. He’s stronger than you gave him credit for.

He’s gentle between your legs, pressing his mouth firmly against your core and working his tongue against you. His free hand slides between your legs, he dips the tip of his index finger into you, then slides it in up to the knuckle and curls. You moan softly, grabbing ahold of those beautiful umber curls, ensuring that he doesn’t get ahead of himself and lose pace with his mouth.

“That’s it.” You whisper. Rooster looks up at you. “Just like that, that’s good.”

Told you so. It’s written across his face. Luckily for you, you can’t see that. He slips his ring finger into you alongside his middle whilst his tongue works confidently along your core and back up to your clit. He lets go of your thigh and rests his forearm across your stomach, keeping you nice and still for him.

He scissors his fingers inside of you, making you gasp softly. You tug at his roots, he moans against your clit. You both shiver. Rooster’s tongue flattens as he drags it along your core. He pulls his fingers out and puts them immediately to work, taking over the pace on your clit. He buries his face between your legs, curling his tongue into you.

“O-Oh.” You can’t pretend you aren’t surprised. It’s like every single sound that slips your lips spurs him on more. Your grip in his hair tightens with the knot in your stomach. You press your heel hard into the mattress, shifting your hips against his mouth. He presses down hard on your middle, keeping your firmly in place.

You moan, head lulling back against your sheets.

“I’m almost there.” You breathe out. You can’t remember the last time you came from oral alone. Rooster groans softly, his mouth and fingers switch place again. He can’t resist looking up at you, the wound up look on your face makes his shorts grow impossibly tighter. His fingers fuck into you, curling and twisting. Youre gasping, willing yourself not to cry out his name - you figure that’ll probably send the wrong message.

This whole thing is sending the wrong message.

Fuck it. You moan his name softly, his grip on your hip tightening in response. It’s toe-curling. You’re busy trying to catch your breath during your comedown when you remind yourself to loosen your grip in his hair. He doesn’t seem to mind one bit, grinning as he peppers kisses across your thighs.

He unbuttons his shorts, kicking them off and moving back up to kiss you on the mouth. You grab hurriedly at the back of his neck. He grinds himself against your core, his straining cock grazing your soaked folds. Rooster slips his tongue into your mouth, letting you taste yourself on him. He guides one of your thighs up around his waist, then pauses to palm over his cock, trying to ease his discomfort.

“Where do you keep your condoms?” You’re half grateful that he’s smart enough to wear one. His question snaps you back to reality. Your eyes widen. He winces internally for breaking you from the moment. He feels you grow more tense against him. He strokes delicately against your waist to ease your tension.

“I don’t have condoms, I wasn’t - I don’t do this.” You motion between the two of you and sigh. Rooster holds up one finger. He stands and grabs his shorts, dipping his hand into the back pocket. You feel like this is a sign. Maybe not from god, you don’t know whether you believe in this kind of divine intervention. Maybe from your Grandmother. Some kind of horrible punishment for letting yourself fall for this.

Doubt fills you. You absolutely should not be doing this. Beau received the divorce papers yesterday, and here you are - in bed with someone else. Not only someone else, but someone in your class.

He pulls a condom from his wallet and stands upright to push his boxers down. Your mouth goes dry as he steps out of them and tears the foil. He isn’t looking at you, focused on the latex instead. You’re glad.

Every ounce of doubt that you had just left your body. When Rooster lifts his eyes again, you have moved. You’re pushing yourself towards the edge of the bed. His hand drags from the base of his cock to the tip again and back down as he watches you near him. He watches, taking his lip between his teeth as you look up at him and lean forwards.

Five weeks of daydreaming of this moment hasn’t been enough to prepare him for the sight of his cock on your tongue. He swallows, reaching out and grabbing a fistful of your hair to keep it out of your face. Your lips wrap around him, the taste of latex on your tongue as you work your mouth around his length. Your fingertips follow the line of soft, almost blonde hair from his pelvis, up onto his stomach and onto his pecs.

You’re glad he had a condom, because there’s no way you’re backing out when you’re already in this deep - and it would have been truly shameless to let him fuck you raw. You are glad. But, you can’t help but find that it was either an extremely presumptuous choice, or a signal that he is no stranger to casual hookups. Either answer displeases you.

To signal this to him, you use your nails as your hand trails back down the same path it had moved up. Rooster watches faint red lines form in the wake of your fingernails, trailing the length of his entire chest. His cock twitches on your tongue. Interesting.

“Fuck, I have to be inside of you.” He breathes out, tugging at your roots. Your eyes widen slightly at the action, you pull back and wipe the corner of your mouth. He wastes no time in grabbing your hips, lifting and dropping you more into the centre of the mattress. His lifting technique is poor, he’s going to give himself a bad back by his mid-30s.

You open your mouth to tell him this, then close it again. It’s not the time.

“Ah.” You press your foot against his thigh and he stops immediately. He’s getting a little too cocky for your liking. “Say please.”

Rooster’s brows scrunch for a fraction of a second. Your eyes bore into each other’s. His lip quirks slightly.

“Please.” He says gently.

You smirk, lifting your foot and instead resting it against his shoulder, parting your legs for him. He lets out a heavy breath, almost a groan of relief, then moves forward. He kisses your knee as he shifts closer, planting his palm beside your head, his other hand guiding his cock between your legs. His eyes are on yours as he presses the tip of his cock into you and then pulls back. You narrow your eyes at him. His lip twitches as he sinks into you, just a few inches at first.

He squeezes at your hip, rocking his hips gently back and forth to let you adjust to his size. You moan softly as his cock grazes a nerve inside of you, letting out a contented sigh.

“Fuck.” Rooster curses. His fingertips whiten against your hipbone as his pelvis presses flush against yours. His stomach presses to yours, your leg over his shoulder letting him fill you as deeply as possible. He leans his head forwards and presses his lips to yours, licking into your mouth. “Fuck.”

You arch your back, pushing your chest up against his as he fills you up. There’s a silent exchange between the two of you. Rooster takes the hint, picking up the pace, rocking his hips to fill you harder and faster.

He’s relentless, dragging against your walls as he bottoms out again and again. It’s impressive, really. You’re doing your best not to look like a completely fucked out mess under him. He’s mesmerised, his lip between his teeth as he watches your face. Even now, you’re so cool, staring up at him.

Your lips are parted and you’re moaning for him, he knows he’s making you feel good, but this is different than when he sleeps with girls his own age. You’ve still got an air of control about you. He likes it. He sits back on his knees, grabbing your hips with both hands so that he has more power to fuck you harder.

“A-Ah… oh, fuck.” You moan out, grabbing hard at his thigh for leverage.

Rooster groans, sliding his hands along your sides, cupping your breasts in his hands.

Beau wasn’t much of a moaner. You’ve been missing out. The sound of Rooster’s hoarse, deep, desperate groans would’ve been a fine form of foreplay because they’re bringing you closer and closer to coming for him just as much as his cock is. His thumb swipes across your nipple, pinching the bud gently. You swallow hard, pushing your hips against his to meet his thrusts.

He fills you over and over. You’re doing your best not to compare him to Beau. He’s doing a good job of keeping your mind off of your husband. Ex-husband. You’re going to have to get used to that.

“You’re so gorgeous,” Rooster murmurs, squeezing your tits in his hands, punctuating his declaration with a sharp thrust. You gasp, arching your back away from the mattress. “So fucking sexy.”

Your eyes close for a few seconds, focusing on the intensity of the orgasm building in the pit of your stomach. Rooster moves his hand between your legs, he pushes down gently on your pelvis, circling your clit with his thumb. His thrusts remain at the same pace - relentless - fucking you until you can barely keep your eyes open.

His name spills off of your tongue so naturally, over and over. You’re amazed - later you’ll be embarrassed - at how easy it was for your brain to accept that this is happening, and with him of all people.

Rooster watches as you near your climax. His lip between his teeth. That gold chain bouncing on his collarbones. His curls sticking to his forehead just slightly. The sun-soaked redness on his chest and shoulders has deepened now that his body temperature has risen. He’s gorgeous.

“Oh, fuck. Fuck. God, you’re fucking incredible.” He pants. His thrusts become more desperate. Hard and fast, but not rushed. Bradley’s thumb continues at the same steady pace, working your clit until you’re gasping for air. He watches, mesmerised. Your chest heaves, tits rising and falling with each breath. Your eyes are screwed shut, lips parted, moaning. You’re pressing your nails into his thigh.

He has to close his eyes. He pants hard, trying to ground himself.

Your walls clench around him, squeezing his cock. He whimpers, leaning forwards and pressing his chest firmly to yours. You grab the back of his neck to keep him against you, shivering from the unfaltering stimulation. Rooster slips an arm under your back, pulling you tight against his body. He manages a few more hard thrusts before he’s faltering, moaning against the crook of your neck as he fills the condom.

Bradley rolls off to lay at your side, breathing hard.

“Christ.” He mutters, letting out a contented sigh. He reaches out and grabs your arm, tugging hard. You hit his chest, brows furrowing as your cheek smushes up against his pec. He wraps both arms around you and rests his head on top of yours.

“Oh, um…” You’re trying to pretend you aren’t trembling. You haven’t had an orgasm like that in a while. “I don’t… I-I’m not a huge cuddler.”

Rooster lifts his head as you wriggle out of his arms. His brows furrow slightly. You can tell he’s disappointed by that revelation. You stare at him. “Huh. I love cuddling.” He explains.

You nod, pushing yourself up until you’re sitting. You look across at the person laying in your bed. He’s stretching his arms up above his head, eyes squeezed shut. He relaxes again with a sigh and turns his head to look at you.

He smiles sweetly. Like he didn’t just rail you.

You smooth down your hair a little and then move to stand up. This was a mistake.

Rooster catches his breath first. He doesn’t seem to notice your inner turmoil. He takes the condom off carefully and ties it, “Do you have a trash can?”

“There’s one in the bathroom.”

When he returns, you’re back in your dress, scraping your hair back into a makeshift ponytail. He leans against the doorframe to your bathroom, clearly not ashamed that he’s severely underdressed.

“Look, Bradley,” You reach up and scratch at the back of your neck nervously. He’s naked in front of you, watching you shift awkwardly on your feet. There’s no easy way to say this, and you’re a little out of practice. “This… was fun. But-“

He nods his head, moving his hand to cover his modesty.

“Sure. Got it. Our secret.” He agrees, nodding his head.

You nod, ready to agree with him, then pause. Your mouth opens and closes again. Then, you sigh. “Well, yes. But - also, this can’t happen again. You know that, right?”

He fights back the urge to smile. He nods his head seriously.

“Oh. Sure, that’s okay.” He has a feeling you’ll warm up to the idea, especially as you get to know him better. He swallows, then looks down pointedly. You realise his boxers are on the floor beside your foot.

You crouch and pick them up, handing them to him quickly. You watch as he steps into them and adjusts himself, then grabs his shorts to do the same. He fixes his hair, running his fingers through it and shaking to spring it back into its usual style.

“Alright. Um… I’ll see you on Monday.” Rooster decides. “I know the way out, I’ll just grab my, uh, my shirt and stuff first.”

It’s awkward already. You nod nervously. You hope that this tension doesn’t carry over into the classroom - or worse, into the air. You’re scolding yourself right up to the point that you hear the front door close behind him. What the fuck was that?

You stand alone in your room and press a hand over your mouth. Holy shit. Monday is not going to be easy.

…

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daughterofcain-67 · 5 months

Text

𝐄𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 (pt. 7)

(Beau Arlen x Female Reader)

(masterlist)

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: Beau finally has a lead on where you are and how he can get Andre in custody! Now it is just a matter of finding you and making sure that you’re safe and unharmed.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: mentions of the kidnapping case, of course. Angry Beau. I think that might be it?

Previously

“No offense, Agent, but I’m pretty damn good at my job and I know what the hell I’m doing. I’ve been in this job long enough to know how to handle a situation like this. I’m not some damn rookie.”

“Fine, but I’m still going with you so it at least looks good on the papers. It is technically the FBI’s case still and we want these guys to go away for good. So try to keep that in mind while you’re trying to keep your cool.” He reminded as he walked out of the door.

Beau just glared at the agent. He knew Sampson was right about doing this by the book, but it still ticked him off. He wasn’t about to waste time on this. Sure he’ll do this by-the-book interview. But the moment things go south, Beau may need to make some plans to conduct an interview all on his own.

The sheriff went to his car and the agent ended up following him to the vehicle and they got in.

“Listen, I know you’re angry and I don’t know what kind of connection you have to the… captive.” Beau could hear the agent begin to speak, “I’ve been where you are with my wife before. It’s vital to keep your head on straight.”

“Hello, Sheriff. How can I be of assistance?” He asked.

Your eyes widened.

Beau was on the phone. He was really looking for you! He was looking for you right? You weren’t imagining all of this?

You had to do something, now was your chance! Andre didn’t take your mouth up or anything so you had to do something. This could be your only shot!

“Beau! He has me in some basement! He could go after Cade-“ a harsh stinging erupted on your face from where Andre smacked you.

“Oh no, Sheriff. That’s just some movie I’m watching at a friends house. He has a weird and nearly concerning taste in film. I can come and meet you to talk about the date in just a few moments. Let’s say… Tonya and Donno’s place? I’ve heard they have some great sandwiches. My treat.” Andre said.

“I have to get out of here.” You vowed and looked at your scabbed wrists and started to try and wiggle out of them yet again but you had even more of a reason to escape, more of a reason to try.

Now

That scream...

That scream was so haunting and Beau couldn't believe that audacity Andre had to lie to a cop and try to play it off as him watching some kind of movie.

"Please tell me there's a way to track that phone call." Beau said as his grip tightened up on the steering wheel as Agent Sampson was typing away at a computer.

"I'm trying my best, Arlen… but if we locate it, we may need to take separate cars. We have to be smart about this” the agent began.

“Andre is under the impression you're by yourself, right? And Y/N hasn't been gone more than forty-two hours yet so there's still time to do this right and make sure she's safe." He said.

"I'll be damned if I let you go there alone if we find out where she is." Beau vowed. If they were going to find you, when they found you, Beau wanted to be the one that made sure you were safe and sound.

He needed to be there in person and see with his own eyes that you were in one piece. For the sake of his own sanity if anything else.

"I can't track from the phone call. But you can drop me off at the office again before you meet Andre. Call Poppernack and tell him to find where Andre is staying. I'll get you a warrant for a search and a raid."

"I need you to get some officers to Cadence and make sure she's okay.” Beau said, recalling the very last snippet of what you were trying to tell him before Andre insisted it was some movie he was watching.

“Who knows what Andre will be capable of since Y/N spoke up when he was on the phone." The sheriff urged and the agent pulled out his phone to make the necessary calls he needed to make to make sure Cadence would be protected and that the deputy would be able to find where Andre resided.

The stress of the situation was weighing on Beau. He couldn't let anything happen to you, not after all the shit he's seen in the world because of this job. He needed to make sure you were okay but that was his top priority. Though, he also knew your priority was keeping your sister safe so he wanted his best officers to keep an eye on Cadence while they looked for you.

Finally, Beau dropped Agent Sampson off at the department, then Beau went on his way to Donno's diner. He needed some answers and he had the biggest feeling in his gut that Andre was wrapped up in this card themed circle. Andre had to be Ace or at least related to Ace somehow.

As much as Beau wanted to go into the diner guns blazing, he knew it would be in your best interest to do things right. At least for now.

When Beau made it to the diner, he shut the door behind him and he saw a certain truck. It seemed to be the only truck there that looked like Andre's so he pulled out his phone and took a picture of the plates. He sent Jenny a quick message since he knew she was still at the department.

BA: Run these plates and see if they're Andre’s. See where he's been last night and this morning. Sampson's working on a warrant.

When he slipped his phone back into his pocket and walked through the doors, he saw the very man he'd give absolutely anything to strangle.

Beau took in a deep breath before he strode over and sat down in front of Andre.

"Well now, I was wondering when you were gonna show up, Sheriff. How can I help ya?" Andre asked with a smile, the smile Beau would love to just punch until his teeth went loose. Knocking them out of his skull would be a bonus.

"Hi, sorry to keep you waiting. Had a last minute call at the office before I came here." Beau lied but then he placed his arms on the table and leaned in.

"You wanted to talk about my cousin, right?" Andre spoke, "You said he was in the country?"

"Oh yeah. Mat Bolkonsky's his name, right? The drug dealer, murderer. We have reason to believe that he's here and we know he's a part of some kind of gang." Beau explained, not wasting time on beating around the bush.

"We have his fingerprints at a murder victim's place. We've also got them at a kidnap victim's place. Have you heard about Y/N L/N?"

"From the coffee shop? Yeah, I know her. We had a date a couple of days ago. Why, is she okay?" Andre asked and it made Beau sick watching the man pretend that he cared about you.

"Well, unfortunately, her sister said she hadn't seen her. And when I did a wellness check she wasn't home. We've found evidence of breaking and entering and we have reason to believe your cousin has anything to do with it." the sheriff said and looked to see if Andre would even squirm at the idea that he was close to being made.

Though not much to Beau's surprise, Andre continued to keep up the facade.

"She's missing? And you.. you think my cousin had something to do with it?" He asked.

"He is the one with a criminal history and the fact that he's in town does not help his case. I was just wondering if maybe-"

"If I had any contact with him? No, unfortunately I don't have any contact with him and I haven't since his murder charges. I'd love to help get Y/N back, I really do. And if I could help than I would but I don't know how I can be of any assistance to you." He said and Beau's jaw tightened.

“You were the last person that saw her. How do we know you’re not lying to an officer?” Beau challenged and Andre raised a brow before he leaned in, matching Beau’s posture with his arms on the table top.

“Let’s be real. You’re hoping I had something to do with it because you’ve got feelings for Y/N. You’re hoping I had something to do with it so you can strangle me and take out any anger you have on me because you blame me for her disappearance.” Andre said.

“Damn straight I blame you. I haven’t liked you since the moment I laid eyes on you. I haven’t liked you since I thought you could have been a link to those two poor girls that went missing. You’re lucky they’re both alive otherwise I would’ve ganked your ass for murder before you would’ve blinked an eye.”

“Unfortunately for you, I don’t care how much you want to blame me, I’m clean. I’ve got nothing to do with it and there’s nothing you can charge me for when it comes to the girl. I know that’s frustrating for you to hear since obviously you love Y/N. But deal with it and go find some other guy to put your charges on.” He said.

“Love, like, whatever has nothing to do with it. All this is, is me trying to get Y/N back home to her sister, who is in fact guarded by the way.” Beau promised and Andre rolled his eyes a little.

“Look, I don’t care if you love her or not. The date was a fiasco anyway because your little girlfriend has trust issues. I can’t be with a girl like that.” The other man said.

"Now if you'll excuse me, Sheriff, I think this little meeting is over. If there's anything I can do outside of Matvey's whereabouts, please let me know. And please let me know if you find Y/N. Just because the date didn’t go well doesn’t mean I wish any kind of ill will on her."

Beau watched as Andre stood up, his gaze darkening when Andre turned around. He continued to watch as he walked out of the door and made his way to the truck.

The sheriff pulled out his phone and started calling Agent Sampson, hoping that he'll pick up.

Luckily, he did.

"Sampson, it's Arlen. Andre's just left the diner and he's making his way to the truck. I sent Hoyt the plates to follow him and maybe we can track where's he's been, where he was when we gave him that phone call."

"Atta boy, Arlen. We'll get right on it. In the meantime, follow him but be discreet about it. We don't know if he's headed to that basement Y/N told us about right away." The agent said.

After that, Beau hung up the phone and he rubbed his hand over his face. All he could think about was if you were alright. These guys were dangerous and he hoped nothing had happened to you.

But then Beau started to think about what Andre said.

And yes. Beau loved you. He couldn’t deny it and he didn’t know how it happened.

Now wasn’t the time to really dwell on revelations though. He had to find you before he ran out of time.

So Beau got up and walked out of the diner before he hopped into his car to follow Andre. He needed to get one step closer to finding you.

Your wrists were raw and bloody from where you had been trying your damndest to break free of these handcuffs. But finally when you were able to break free you let out a breath of relief.

You tossed the cuffs aside and carefully rubbed the areas below the cuts on your wrist because you knew they’d be sore. Then you looked down at the shackles on your ankle. Your hands may have been free’d but you were still captive unless you could find away to get the chain off your ankle.

The phone call that Andre had with Beau filled you with hope. You were relieved that he was calling but you knew it would only be a matter of time before Andre would come back again, or any of his other people. What if they moved you before Beau would have the chance to find you?

And what about Cadence? You knew she was worried sick, and you hoped that Beau heard you and would send someone to protect your little sister.

You couldn’t handle the guilt of what would happen if she were to get wrapped up in this mess. You didn’t ever want for her to go through what you were. She didn’t deserve it. You weren’t sure id she could even handle it.

When you heard the door open, your heart began to race. But you were trying your best to hold it together, to pretend like you weren’t intimidated by Andre and his crew, no matter what they will do, or what they have done already.

You dared to look at the entrance of the basement and you realized the footsteps sounded more like the clacking of heels. You lifted a brow before you saw a familiar woman: Andre’s sister, who you only knew as ‘Queen’ for the moment with their little charade.

“Look what you’ve done, all the trouble you’ve caused. King told us about the phone call from your little cop friend. Sheriff Beau Arlen… A stud of a man if you ask me. A pain-in-the-ass, yeah, but still handsome as Hell. And why he’s even looking for you would beat me.” Queen said and your brows narrowed.

“Really? You’re trying some self esteem attack or something? He’s just a cop doing his job and he would have done the same thing for my sister or anyone else in this town because he’s a damned good cop.” You said.

“Oh no, I wasn’t talking about the fact of who you are. I don’t know what you mean to him, nor do I really give a damn. I just mean we’ve gotten away with a lot worse. No one has been able to get any solid evidence against us until we moved to Helena. Until my brother met you. You worthless skank.” She seethed.

“You think I wanted to get involved with this mess? I went on one date with your brother, I didn’t think I would wind up here and I didn’t ask to be in this situation. The fact that the cops are on your tail is because of his choices and his shitty decision making. I had nothing to do with it.” You exclaimed and the Queen rolled her eyes.

“Oh, are you kidding me? If it wasn’t for my brother being interested in you, he wouldn’t have gone on a date with you. Then you wouldn’t have sent a text to one of the cops. After the message, Andre sent Ace and Jack to your place and both of them are so sloppy.” She scoffed and she walked over to you. Then she looked down on you with a snobby glare.

"Their lack of stealth has nothing to do with me. Maybe they aren't as good as you thought they were." You rolled your eyes and she pulled out a pocket knife. Where did she get the pocket knife, you couldn't say.

But the blade was aimed at you and you stared blankly at it, "Really? After what your brother did, a few cuts and gashes aren't that big of a deal."

Then you could hear a phone ringing. Knowing it was the Queen's, you glanced up at her and arched a brow, "You might wanna get that. Could be important."

The other woman let out an irritated gruff and she pulled out her phone from a pocket before she answered.

"What?"

You could faintly hear another voice on the other end of the line and you knew it was Andre, a very pissed Andre at that. You knew that Beau was a smart man, and you could only hope that he was following Andre now. You didn't know how much more of this you could take.

"You're kidding me... now? Where the hell would we take her?" More silence, "You'd better not get followed by that motherf- what? I'll see what I can do in an hour."

This didn’t sound good…

“Less than that? Look I don’t think we’re going to have enough time for that. Be a realist once in a while. I’m good but I’m not a miracle worker.” She rolled her eyes.

From the look on her face, Andre must’ve had some sort of outburst to make Queen get a little stunned. She let out a breath before she finally spoke again.

“Fine, I’ll see what I can do in less than an hour. But I cannot make any promises. If we get caught because of this girl I’ll never let you hear the end of it.”

Then the Queen hung up on Andre and looked at you before she scoffed and started dialing up other numbers while she walked out of the basement.

"Ace, we have a situation. We need to leave in less than an hour."

Your eyes widened. Less than an hour? Will Beau find you before then? How fast would their systems find you? What if they would end up being too late?

Beau focused on watching Andre. He saw that the man was pulled over, talking on the phone and he seemed to be having a very stressful conversation. Clearly Andre wasn't too pleased about something and Beau noticed that he was also looking at his watch as if they were pressed for time.

Then Beau started getting a phone call.

Without any hesitation, Beau answered and lifted the device to his ear.

"Sheriff Arlen." He said, hoping there would be some kind of positive development.

"Beau, it's Jenny. Agent Sampson located the basement Y/N has been the past couple of days. We've also got a warrant to search Andre's house." Beau's heart nearly skipped a beat at the words and when he looked up, Andre started his car up again and started to drive off.

"Have someone go to Andre's place and find any evidence that links him to Mat Bolkonsky. Send me the address to that damned basement. I'll be there in a few minutes." He spoke sternly.

"Already did and we got his computer. There were emails between Andre who apparently goes by 'King' and he's been communicating with a trafficking circle. Last night he emailed the circle about a girl fitting Y/N's description. Sampson thinks that it may be enough to get an arrest and maybe we can hold him. It's a long shot since it's circumstantial but it's gotta be something."

The adrenaline flowed through Beau's veins. They were so damned close to getting you back and he couldn't let you down. This was the best news he's heard all day long.

"Good enough for me. I'll meet you at that basement. Make sure we've got plenty of backup. Who knows what we'll come across when we get there."

Then Beau hung up and started driving off to follow Andre once more.

But Andre must've known he was being followed because Beau noticed he was starting to speed up and he was taking different roads. Luckily for Beau, however, he's gotten to know all of these roads while he was driving around with Jenny and Cassie when he first moved here.

When Andre and Beau stopped at one of the back roads, Beau noticed that Andre was pulled over and the car was turned off. When Beau realized Andre was stepping out of the car, Beau's brows narrowed. Then he stopped his car behind Andre's before stepping out.

"I thought we had everything taken care of back at the diner, Sheriff." Andre spoke, and Beau shook his head.

"Oh no... you see, we had a warrant to search your place. We've got a hold on your computer and we know of your little double life you've got goin' on. King? Really? Isn't that a little narcissistic?" Beau asked while he walked closer to him.

"You went to my house without my knowledge?!" Andre exclaimed angrily and Beau shrugged.

"Well, buddy, with a warrant it doesn't matter if you know about it or not. Either way, you're screwed. Now why don't you just man up and own up to taking Y/N. I'll take you down to the station." He warned.

"Even if you arrest me, you won't find her. I told my people you were coming. Y/N will be sold off since they don't care if she's used goods. Just means we get paid a little less."

Beau froze for a second and stopped walking before he glared at Andre, "Used goods... What the Hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh yeah. Guess you wouldn't have known. She's really good in the sack, especially when she's all tied up and vulnerable.” Andre said with a sly, sickening smirk. And Andre could tell that he was getting to Beau.

“What the Hell did you say to me?” Beau snarled.

“She sounded so pretty when she begged for me to stop. Probably the best I ever had.” Andre laughed.

In that very moment, Beau saw nothing but red as his hand formed itself into a fist and he punched the living hell right out of Andre. A fight insured between them. The adrenaline rushed through Beau’s veins and no matter how hard Andre seemed to punch, the sheriff threw his fist ten times as hard.

Could he lose his job just for that one move? Sure, if he had a camera on his car - which he didn't. But for you, he'd risk everything. Especially when Andre did something so despicable. It made Beau so unbearably pissed and nauseated at the same time.

"You sick son of a bitch.” Beau snarled but then he finally got to a point in the fight where he could flip Andre and he could get his hands behind his back and cuff him.

Once Andre was cuffed, Beau got him into the car and luckily he had the address of the basement in his phone now so he could go to the basement. He pulled up the address on the GPS on his phone since he knew other officers could hold Andre in their vehicles since those were meant to hold criminals.

Soon enough, Beau finally pulled up and saw the other cop cars there. Jenny, Poppernack, Agent Sampson and his crew. They were all there since they had to be prepared for what was happening. Beau stepped out of his vehicle and he motioned for another officer to come and take Andre in their holding cars.

When Beau walked over to the agent and two deputies he immediately wanted to know what the situation was.

“It’s been quiet. No one’s been in or out by the time we all got here and we all came as quickly as we could.” Poppernack said.

“I just hope that we aren’t too late.” Jenny said.

“By the way, what happened between you and Andre. You both look like Hell.” Jenny said and Beau shrugged a little.

“He may be in court for more than just trafficking and kidnapping. We’ll talk about it later.” Beau insisted.

“Now that we’re all here, let’s move in.” Agent Sampson said and Beau nodded and someone handed the sheriff a bulletproof vest and he put it on.

‘Please be okay, Y/N.’ Beau thought as they all started going towards the building. It was an old and abandoned convenience store. An odd choice, but that wasn’t the point.

When they all made it inside, everyone dispersed so they could look for you.

They searched everywhere. The storage room in the back, some were checking a shed outside, the whole place was being searched and that included the area around the shop and the shed themselves.

“Y/N?” Beau called out, staying on his guard.

He had to stay hopeful. He had to cling to the hope that you would be there. He needed to get you back so he could reassure you that you were safe, and that you would never see Andre again. Everything that Andre told Beau still fueled him with unspeakable amounts of anger but now he had to focus on the goal.

When Beau finally found the entrance to the basement he couldn’t help but feel at least a little relieved. He busted the door down but what he saw was not what he was hoping for.

“No…”

You were nowhere to be found! The handcuffs were lying on the floor, the chains that kept you there were empty.

“Beau, no one is here.” Jenny said when she found him.

Then it was like the walls around Beau were crumbling down. He didn’t know what else he was supposed to do so Beau ended up punching the wall in front of him. He punched it so hard he was positive he might’ve busted the skin on his knuckles.

“Damn it!”

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a great New Year so far! Will Beau find Y/N before it’s too late? Stay tuned to find out!

Tag List:

@deans-spinster-witch @roseblue373 @chriszgirl92 @fanfic-n-tabulous @globetrotter28

#jensen ackles #beau arlen #big sky #big sky beau arlen #jensen ackles big sky #beau arlen x yn #beau arlen ff #jensen ackles beau arlen #big sky montana

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admirxation · 4 months

Note

May I please request a one-shot for Forrest Law falling in love with a rich woman who’s a frequent customer at his dad’s restaurant and an avid martial artist herself?

Mystery | Forest Law oneshot request

𓆩♡𓆪┆ pairing: Forest Law x fem!reader(afab)

𓆩♡𓆪┆ summary: Forest makes it a habit to visit his fathers restaurant, but one night this continuous habit now has a unique involvement — the reader. after captivating his attention, he fixates on getting to know the mysterious reader.

𓆩♡𓆪┆ word count: 3.5k

𓆩♡𓆪┆ warnings: female anatomy and she/her pronouns used for the reader. no graphic content like smut, this is mainly cute and fluff content.

𓆩♡𓆪┆ a/n: hey anon! i rlly hope you like this, i rlly enjoyed writing this; i'm obviously a smut writer but it was fun to write something cute and fluffy. thank you so much for picking me to give your request to and future requests are always welcome when my inbox is open again.

𓆩♡𓆪┆ my links: masterlist | ao3 profile | kofi

Inside his father's restaurant, the heady aroma of simmering spices wafted through the air, the warmth of the lighting and the murmur of conversations formed a comforting and inviting energy that filled that atmosphere. Forest sat at the back, eating his favourite meal he ordered every time he visited, wanting to kill time while his father walked around and spoke to the most important people in the room.

Forest’s eyes wandered across the room, taking in the diverse decoration on the walls and the groups of people talking and laughing amongst themselves. He stared for a moment, wondering what the larger groups were talking about, possibly if it was someone’s birthday or a job promotion celebration, looking further to see if he could figure out which people were the least favourite and tried to conjure up some backstory to them when looking their appearance. He picked out what he thought were the natural leaders of the group, the most successful, the ones who were struggling. Still, amidst the lively chatter and his continuing thoughts, his attention was drawn to a corner table for one, captivated by the woman who sat there — you. You were a vision of refined beauty; your presence naturally commanded Forest’s attention, and he accepted to follow as he continued to be mesmerised by you.

He did a dance between watching you and then shifting his eyes somewhere else to go back to you, not wanting you to notice as he stared at your beauty. He noticed how your hair fell gracefully; you held a natural grace that created a timeless beauty, producing an air of mystery, a captivating allure that hinted at a story to be untold — a story Forest wanted to be a part of.

You were dressed in your favourite colour for tonight, exuding elegance where you walked as the fabric of your clothing flowed with every subtle movement, a dance of sophistication that continued to hold Forest’s attention. What truly caught Forest’s attention was the details that adorned you. Delicate pieces of jewellery placed on your fingers, each ring a testament to the craftsmanship and your great taste. As you lifted the glass of wine to your lips, the play of light caught the sparkle of the subtle necklace that was gently pressed on your collarbone.

Forrest couldn’t help but be captivated by how you engaged with the waiter; he couldn’t exactly hear in detail, but he could see a warmth in your body language, your polite manners and smile to the waiter. Forest had only come to “kill time” but instead caught himself staring at how beautiful you were; he was now making backstories and assumptions about you, and the population surrounding you was just the blurred background while you were the focalised subject.

There was an effortless charm to your interactions that just enticed Forest to speak to you, but he didn’t know how to approach you, not being able to think of an excuse to start a conversation with you.

Time seemed to stretch at that moment, allowing Forrest to savour the unexpected beauty of the distanced encounter. With its familiar sights and sounds, the restaurant transformed into a stage where you were the focal point.

But now, Forrest needed to leave.

As he walked towards the exit, he made it his mission to walk past you. You didn’t notice him, but he noticed how you were the reason for his heart to beat a little quicker, the reason for that small smile that crept up on his face when he walked past and smelt your perfume. He couldn’t recognise the scent, but all he knew was that it belonged to the most beautiful woman he enjoyed being in the same room with.

~~~

The ambient hum of conversation outside filled the air of the bustling city as Forest sat alone in his room, looking at the blank wall while being lost in his thoughts; a previous vision of elegance left him lost in contemplation, keeping him to replay your vision in his mind over and over again. Forest continued to lay in a still position as he found himself lost in a mental reel, playing out scenarios of what it would be like to approach you. The weight of missed opportunities weighed on his mind, and he silently chastised himself for not seizing the chance to just speak to you when walking past.

“The restaurant belongs to my father; that could have been an easy conversation starter, you idiot,” Forest whispered to himself.

Forest conjured various conversation starters in his imagination — witty remarks, clever observations, and charming anecdotes that would elicit your smiles. He imagined how your laugh would sound, wanting to observe how your eyes crinkle at a well-timed joke. Each scenario played out like a carefully scripted scene in a movie, the perfect dialogue and flawless execution etched into his mind.

This wasn’t like Forest; he didn’t have any woman control his feeling as you had manipulated them and continued to remain in his thoughts. He usually kept a calm composure and arguably a cockiness in his personality; he didn’t overthink into decisions like this, but you brought a different side to him.

As the night wore on, beginning to feel his eyes becoming heavy, he decided to break free from the cocoon of his contemplation and promise himself that if he saw you again, he would talk to you. With a newfound determination, Forest lay to sleep, having excitement buzz through him with the possibility of seeing you soon.

~~~

Forest made another visit to his father's restaurant; the familiar scent of spices and the rhythmic clattering of pots and pans greeted him as he stepped to the back to find his father. The previous day's encounter with you still lingered in his mind, and he couldn’t shake the desire to know you more. Determined, he went through the bustling tables to seek out his father amid the controlled chaos of the restaurant’s kitchen.

“Hey, Dad,” Forest greeted, a mix of curiosity and eagerness evident in his voice.

His father turned from overseeing the kitchen staff and greeted Forest with a nod and a look of surprise and confusion: “Forest, what brings you here? You’re never here this time of day. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything is fine,” Forest replied to sound casual, “I was here yesterday, and I wanted to maybe ask you something.”

His father raised an eyebrow, wondering what his sudden interest was in his business. The kitchen staff had now continued to get back to work, ignoring the conversation these two were now having, allowing Forest to feel comfortable in asking his questions about you.

“Um, I was here yesterday, and I saw someone interesting… A woman and I was wondering if you could tell me who she is?”

Marshall let out a breathless small laugh for a moment as he folded his arms: “I’m going to need more information than, son, many women come walking through these doors.”

After mustering up the courage, Forest described your appearance subjectively, not mentioning the poetic descriptions of beauty but merely focusing on your hair, eyes, and stature. But most importantly, he mentioned the corner you sat at, a corner for one person that was nearest to the best decoration in the whole restaurant.

Marshall nodded as he raised an eyebrow, as well as a knowing smile that played on his lips: “Ah, I think you’re talking about Ms Y/N L/N; she sits in that corner every time she comes here; she’s a very important patron of ours and contributes a lot to this business. A lovely woman… Not just in her appearance.”

Forest felt embarrassed at those last few words, realising how obvious his attraction was to you now.

“Thank you, um, is she —” he was cut off.

“Look, son, she’s a regular here and enjoys the quiet ambience around her; I would rather her be in peace when she eats here. I know why you’re here, but I advise you to leave her alone; she’s very important and doesn’t seem like the type who wants to get involved with strangers… I’ve never seen her invite anyone to dinner, always alone and solitary, enjoying her own company.”

A mixture of disappointment and understanding crossed Forest’s face; of course, it was too good to be true that a beautiful woman happened to be in his father's restaurant.

“Um, how did you know what I want?”

“You never ask about anyone here, and now you’re suddenly interested in a woman; bit obvious, don’t you think?” he laughed momentarily, “Jokes aside, please take my advice.”

“Sure, Dad. I just… She just caught my attention, and I thought it was worth a shot,” he shrugged as he started leaving the kitchen.

“It happens. But remember, some people don’t want to be disturbed; some were made to live solitary lives.”

Forest left the conversation with a heavy heart; the allure of your mysterious presence was now accompanied by restraint. He couldn’t deny the logic behind his father's words, but the lingering curiosity and a need to rebel kept tugging at these thoughts — but no matter how reckless he could be, he didn’t want to disappoint his father.

~~~

Throughout the day, Forest couldn’t shake the image of you from his mind. He observed you discreetly only for a moment, but this was enough time to note how effortlessly you captured his attention. He stayed longer at his father’s restaurant for some dinner, poking and prodding his food around the plate in disappointment with seeing you hadn’t arrived like yesterday. The restaurant buzzed in energy, but Forest wasn’t eager to observe the individuals as usual — he had found a favourite person to analyse and only wanted to look at you.

As the evening progressed, Forest’s father noticed the forlorn expression he kept on his face. Throughout the night, Marshall had been greeting various guests when he could involve himself in conversations with the most important people coming through the doors. As he engaged in these talks, he had his eyes naturally look over to the lonesome Forest and observed that sadness that could only be linked to that previous conversation. After some time of watching, he finally approached to talk again.

“Do you want to talk?” Forest’s father inquired as he placed his hand on the available seat opposite him, taking Forest out of a state of constant overthinking and disappointment.

“Not much to talk about; it was settled before,” he was direct but not disrespectful in his speech.

Marshall saw Forest's feelings and momentarily invited himself to sit with him.

“Come on, speak to me.”

He sighed before speaking: “I’m a little disappointed… She just seemed so… I don’t know, interesting. Even if it went to nothing, I’m sure I would have appreciated just having one conversation with her.”

“She is a fascinating woman,” Forest shot a look of ‘this isn’t helping’ toward his father. Marshall sat there momentarily, his fingers interlocking and thumbs twirling as he hesitated in his next speech, trapped in a contemplative look that Forest couldn’t read. “Well, she is also a regular at the dojo; she trains there every single night, and if you’re interested… maybe find a way to talk to her, maybe show her what I trained you.”

A spark of hope ignited in Forest’s eyes. “Wait, if she goes there regularly, how come I’ve never seen her? I’m there all the time.”

“She goes an hour after you leave.”

Typical, Forest thought.

“Just go an hour after you usually go, be respectful, but please remember, if she values her privacy and does not engage, do not force her to engage in the way you want her to.”

Forest thanked his father and mentally noted the timing; a feeling of renewed excitement had enticed him again. Forest’s mind was now filled with the thoughts of how he would talk to you, also wondering if you liked martial arts as much as he did or just learning. He was picturing maybe teaching you a thing or to if you were a beginner, but most importantly, he just wanted to get to know you behind your mystery.

~~~

An hour later, Forest found himself standing outside the familiar dojo his father had also owned; a mix of nervousness and excitement coursed through him; he found it strange how he knew this place off by heart, but it felt like entering a new destination.

The atmosphere of the dojo was one of calm intensity. The rhythmic sounds of disciplined movements, punctuated by measured and controlled breaths, filled the air. The mats beneath Forest’s feet offered a subtle cushioning as he watched the room for you. His eyes scanned the room and found you, the one whose aura had left an ever-fixed mark on his imagination. You were alone; this time of night was unpopular with the rest of the customers.

You stood in the corner — secluded once again – executing precise and fluid movements. Clad in traditional gi, you exuded an air of focused tranquillity, your eyes fixed on an imaginary opponent. The play of light and shadow accentuated the determination etched on your face; the atmosphere around you seemed to hum with a subtle tension — a testament to the intensity of your training.

Forest hesitated momentarily, unsure of how to approach her amidst the silent symphony of the martial arts you showed expertise in. The serene atmosphere of the dojo was both calming and daunting, creating a delicate balance that echoes the discipline of practitioners like yourself. Summoning his courage, Forest finally approached you with measured steps, waiting momentarily as you stopped in your movements. As he neared you and watched you take notice of him, with those eyes that were making him melt, he couldn’t help but continue to marvel at the grace and precision with which you executed each technique and the natural grace that surrounded you.

You watched him for a moment; you had to admit he was a very attractive man, and you already knew who he was after multiple conversations with his father, but you didn’t know why his son was suddenly interested in speaking to you after the multiple years you attended the dojo and the restaurant with your investments.

“Excuse me, Ms. L/N?” Forest began, his voice cutting through the silence that now filled the dojo. You watched his face and saw a subtle glow of pink on his cheeks, his pupils dilating, as well as his avoided gaze every time you tried to make eye contact with him — you waited for him to tell you his business, and you were secretly enjoying watching up flustered with just a simple introduction; it felt like you had a certain but innocent control over him that excited you. “Um… I’m Forest Law… I’m sure you recognise the name. I saw you in my father’s restaurant, and well, I —”

You regarded him with a small smile: “Forest Law,” you repeated as if testing how the name fits on your lips, “I have heard about you from your father, Marshall; he’s been a lovely man to me. It’s great to meet his son that he talks about finally.”

“He talks about me to you?” he looked confused.

“Yes,” you let out a small laugh, “you might say I already know you a little bit; I’ve heard some of the stories that I won’t mention… But I also hear the love he has for you,” you watched him smile as you said those words, making it more clear of his striving for his father's approval. “No, what brings you here, exactly?”

Forest felt a mixture of relief and nervous energy, grateful that you were welcoming this interruption and complying with conversation; what added to the nerves was now thinking of something to say to fill the silence before it got awkward.

You decided to help him out: “Your father said you were trained well by him, how about you show me some skills? In that time, you could maybe think of what made you want to start this conversation with me,” you gave him a warm smile followed by a light and gentle laugh to poke a little fun at him — he was already starting to like your sense of humour.

Though initially surprised by the request, Forrest couldn’t resist the opportunity to show off his abilities. “Um, sure, sounds… fun, I suppose,” he couldn’t help but let out an awkward laugh to remove the silence.

As you two moved into the training area, Forest felt various emotions. That overconfident part of his personality was excited to live up to the expectations that your father had seemed to speak about to you, but there was a little voice in his head that made him overthink and worry about failing. However, when you both got onto the mats, Forest began to demonstrate a series of fluid techniques, movements of a fusion of precision and agility. — he made it his mission to get out of his head and to show you what he knew he was great at. You observed him with keen interest, your eyes tracking every motion, your eyebrow piquing in interest every time he executed a difficult and impressive move; his intricate combinations had led to your nod of approval.

“Impressive, Forest. Your father was right… There’s a certain finesse in your style.”

Encouraged by your words, Forest asked: “Would you like me to teach you one of the moves? It’s great practice.” You were starting to like the small increments of confidence he was starting to have with you; it was fun knowing his handsome man wanted to get to know you and spend time with you. You considered his proposal while deep in thought when observing the attractive features that were standing out to you, then giving a thoughtful gaze before continuing: “I’d be honoured. Lead on.”

A unique exchange, a martial arts dance between Forest and you followed. Forest guided you through various techniques, patiently correcting your form and offering encouragement now and again; he was also impressed with your own moves that you implemented into his movement combinations.; you absorbed the lessons and made them your own; this confidence and skill only added to Forest’s attraction to you. The dojo echoes with the soft sounds of footsteps, the swish of fabric, and the occasional thud of controlled impacts. Forest continued to marvel at the synchronicity of your aura when practising your own fighting style.

As you concluded your joint session, you began to speak with your eyes, reflecting a newfound appreciation: “Thank you, Forest, I’ve enjoyed this… Your skills are truly commendable. I must say you do put me to shame sometimes,” you laughed.

“What do you mean? You were amazing there,” he got lost when looking into your eyes for a moment, quickly breaking the visual connection, thinking if he lingered his stare too long, you would be weirded out.

“Perhaps you could come with me again,” you started, “we could have some joint training sessions…” Forest was about to agree before you added more to your statement, “ But first you must answer the first question I was waiting on… What brought you here? I know this is your father's property, but I’m only now seeing you… My curiosity will get the better of me.”

Forest took a deep breath.

“Well… I saw you in the restaurant yesterday; I just so happened to stop there randomly and unscheduled to look out and see how my father was doing. As I began to wander… I saw you,” you watched intently, “I find you a beautiful and mysterious woman, Ms L/N —”

“You may just call me Y/N… No need for the sophistication.”

“Thank you… But, as I was saying, I did want to speak to you and was too scared, and I came here after seeing this is your usual time and… I just wanted to get to know the woman that made me nonstop think about her.”

A blush appeared on your cheeks, watching his eyes sparkle as he recounted that night he saw you; the way he titled you as the “beautiful and mysterious woman” just created butterflies in your stomach. You had heard about the many good things about Forest from Marshall and often wondered what this marvellous son was like, and meeting him here and now made that curiosity grow bigger; you wanted to get to know this man more, that gut feeling of knowing this was a man you wanted to see where things would go — so you provided him with an offer.

“I’m very flattered you think of me that way,” you walked a little closer to him, placing your hand on the side of his arm, knowing that would drive him a little crazy, “how about we get to know each other a bit better, maybe meet here again tomorrow… Maybe break away at the mystery I seem to have.”

“I would love that.”

You then leaned in for a moment, giving him a kiss on the cheek, watching as he froze and blushed.

“consider it a thank you for your compliments and what you taught me today,” you said.

As you two excited the dojo together, the bond forged through martial arts now lingered in the air. Forest couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment and connection, grateful and curious at the prospect of an unexpected journey of being involved with you as well as getting to know you more than just a beautiful investor for his father.

©︎ admirxation. please do not copy or steal my works.

#tekken x y/n #tekken #tekken 8 #tekken forest law #forest law #forest law x y/n #forest law x reader #fanfiction #forest law x you #forest law x fem!reader #fem!reader #afab!reader #fluff #forest law fluff #cute fanfic #tekken fluff #tekken fluff fanfic

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delectablyhumongousstarfis--blog · 6 months

Text

Well… that was quite the emotional rollercoaster. I have a lot of thoughts.

Firstly, I am over the moon about the callowmoore shenanigans! I love me a slow burn (pun absolutely intended). Pure fucking awkward chaos - nom nom nom! I don’t think the events with the shard spell the end of anything. We’ve seen romances weather worse storms. Remember that one time that Yasha nearly killed Beau? I love their whole dynamic and I’m excited to see it hopefully blossom into something more, and how they deal with all of this.

I’m disappointed that Ashton took the shard, but honestly that’s mostly because I think the narrative is going to be worse/less compelling for it. Seeing Fearne and Ashton learn how to navigate such a connection to another person is infinitely more interesting to me personally than Ashton adding to their already complex stack of abilities. Not saying it’s bad, or uninteresting, just less so than what could have been.

While watching Ashton nearly get shattered (again!!) was incredibly stressful, it was also the kinda high-stakes drama I enjoy. I’m really looking forward to the conversations that’ll come from this in the next episode.

After 4SD, I’m of the opinion that Fearne was scared of the power the shard holds and the potential of being corrupted by it. I also think part of it might have been not wanting to steal Ashton/Tal’s thunder. For Ashton, I reckon it was a combination of things. From their perspective, they’ve been a nobody their whole life, they finally have an opportunity to be a somebody. They want to take hits so others don’t have to. They want to be a hero. I think I get why we ended up here.

Am I a little mad at the characters for being kinda stupid? yes. Am I glad the cast RP their characters making stupid decisions? Also yes. As dumb and avoidable as this all might have been, it was a great piece of entertainment.

I’m surprised that I’ve yet to see anyone talk about Imogen and Laudna being so ready to abandon Ashton when they thought they were going to die… especially considering Ashton’s history. Even more so when looking at Ashton’s own reaction to other party members being close to death. I really hope that gets discussed at the table at some point. Could get some juicy RP moments.

I think I’ve rambled enough for one evening. Really looking forward to next week’s episode, let the drama begin!!

#callowmoore #critical role spoilers #cr spoilers #campaign 3 spoilers #campaign 2 spoilers #ashton greymoore #fearne calloway

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dragon-kazansky · 2 years

Text

Fine ass man

Beau ‘Cyclone’ Simpson x Reader

Gender neutral reader

[Masterlist]

[Previous Chapter] - [Next Chapter]

Dedicated to @cycbaby

This series is inspired by this fic: Fine piece

Word count: 672

You have it bad for Vice Admiral Simpson. But to prove you’re fit for the job; you need to put that aside and focus on the flying.

♡♡♡

Chapter Eleven - Awkward apologies

Maverick was wrapping up the class today. He was giving feedback on everyone’s recent flying. It didn’t shock anyone to know you were still the top pilot in the class.

Oh, how Cyclone wanted to gloat about that. He had entered the hangar moments before Maverick praised your effort today. He filled with pride to hear you being spoken so highly about.

He wasn’t supposed to be here, but all day he couldn’t stop thinking about that moment in the bar. Iceman hadn’t mattered so much in the end. When he saw you had left his side, his night felt... like it had ended. Both of you are great admirers of Admiral Kazansky, and perhaps he could have used that as an excuse to talk to you more, but he was under the impression you thought he would rather spend his evening with the admiral.

What a mistake that was.

So, he brought himself here before Maverick dismissed all of you. He needed to talk to you, but without drawing suspicion. No one would question him if he called you to his office. They wouldn’t dare. Here on base, he was boss.

Maverick dismissed everyone.

You get up and prepare to leave for the day, but Cyclone stepping forward had everyone stopping where they stood.

“My office, now.”

He’s looking right at you. You swallow subtly and chance a glance at Hangman. The fucker was smirking.

You nod your head and follow Cyclone out of the hangar and up to his office. It’s just the two of you in here. The door shuts behind you and he walks over to the window, looking out.

You have no idea why you’re here.

“Sir?”

“I’m sorry,” he said. Beau keeps his back to you.

“Sorry for what, sir?”

Now you’re just confused.

“For last night.”

Yeah... Still confused.

“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t understand,” you say, looking at him.

You watch him roll his shoulders back and lift his head up. He takes a second before he turns around and faces you.

“I had hoped last night that I would have a chance to talk to you. I feel I may have ruined that by turning my attention to the admiral.”

He sees the confusion on your face and sighs.

“I wanted to get to know you outside of the uniform. It came to my attention you thought I was there because Iceman was making an appearance. Now, as much as I admire the man, I would have much preferred to have spent my evening talk to you.”

Beau sees the way your expression changes.

“You wanted to spend time with me?” You ask him, speaking softly.

“Yeah...”

You smile softly and then begin to freak out.

“For real? Am I dreaming? Did I fall asleep in class? Did Jake drug me?” You begin to panic.

“What? No!” Cyclone stares at you in disbelief.

You meet his eyes again.

“You’re serious?”

“Is that so bad?” He asks.

“Well, I guess not. Shocking, I guess. Well, Penny opens her bar every night. There is no reason we can’t talk outside of the base, I suppose.”

Beau feels himself relax.

“You want to?”

“Yeah, if that’s all you wanted to do. No harm in that,” you reassure him.

Cyclone smiles slightly.

“Will you be there tonight?” He asks.

“That was the plan.”

“The others?”

“They’ll be there. They spend most of their free time over there,” you admit. “But we could meet on the beach if you prefer. I’d hate rumours to start because someone saw us chatting out of uniform.”

That works for him.

“Alright. I’ll meet you on the beach.”

You smile.

“If that’s all, sir?”

He could go on, but perhaps he should save that for another time... or never. Perhaps some things should never be spoken.

“That’s all. Dismissed,” he says, reverting back into the vice admiral he is.

You nod with a small smile and leave.

Tonight. On the beach.

You’re a risk he felt worth taking, if you’d let him.

♡♡♡

@ahopelessromanticwritersworld - @nyx2021 - @mrsjaderogers - @luckyladycreator2 - @callsignscupcake - @nezla - @spair-m - @absentmindeduniverse - @ravensmadreads - @theghostofshadows -

#beau cyclone simpson x reader #cyclone #beau cyclone simpson #cyclone x reader #beau simpson #beau simpson x reader #top gun: maverick #top gun #fine ass man

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sporadically-writing · 1 year

Text

Fear of the Past

Pairing: Kingsley Tealeaf x Reader, Past!Mollymauk Tealeaf x Reader, Good Friend Caduceus Clay

Warnings: Potential spoilers for The Mighty Nein Reunited

Word Count: 1,070

“Caduceus?” you ask, interrupting the firbolg’s gardening.

“Hm?”

“Can I ask you something?”

Caduceus turns, taking in your nervous body language immediately. “Sure,” he says, handing you a small gardening tool, “As long as you don’t mind helping me with these vegetables.”

You take it, happy to help and have something to do with your hands besides twiddling your thumbs. “Sure!”

Caduceus quietly gardens with you for a moment, giving you the time to find the words you want to say.

“Sooooo…”

“So” he says.

“Sooo,” you begin again, “it’s been a while since we’ve all been together.”

“Yeah,” Caduceus agrees, “It’s nice to see everybody again. Sorry I couldn’t make for the whole-”

“No, it’s okay,” you reassure him, “You and your family had a lot going on around here. Besides, something told me you wouldn't have been comfortable on a boat again. You had your fair share of that before.”

Caduceus chuckles. “Yeah. I’m sensing this isn’t what you wanted to talk about though.”

Your nervousness returns. It was one thing to battle these feelings in your head by yourself, it was a whole other thing to confide them with someone else, but here you go.

“You’re right,” you sigh, “I- I know you aren’t really the person to ask about this kind of thing but, honestly, you’re the only one I think I can really talk to about this.”

“Why’s that, if you don’t mind me asking” Caduceus says, pulling at a particularly entrenched piece of vegetation.

“Well, Fjord and Caleb have their own romantic problems to be worried about, Jester and Veth would try to “fix it” by setting up a date, Beau would just make fun of me and I don’t think Yasha would have the sort of answers I’m looking for.”

“There’s a pretty important exclusion in that list” Caduceus notices.

“Yeah…” you respond.

“I see what’s going on now.”

“I just… I don’t know how to tell him how I feel without him worrying about Molly.”

“I see,” Caduceus says, growing a touch more serious. He sets his tools down and turns to face you fully. “I was a bit after Molly’s time, obviously, so I can’t really speak to what your experience was with him but, I can ask you this. Do you feel like your feelings for Kingsley are in any way residual from what you felt for Molly?”

“I used to think so.”

“Okay” Caduceus says, signaling for more.

“But… the more I got to know Kingsley as his own person outside of the other two, I think I feel in love all over again.”

“That’s great” Caduceus says, “Why don’t you just tell him that?”

“Caduceus.”

“What?”

“I can’t just do that.”

“Why not?”

“Because I- I’m scared.”

Caduceus smiles softly at you. “I can understand that.” He reaches over and grabs one of your hands and says, “But all things considered, I don’t think you have anything to really be scared of. You took on an entire floating city, brokered peace between two opposing nations, fought a giant sea snake recently and so many other things.”

“I didn’t do any of those things alone, Caduceus.”

“No,” he agrees, “and I’m not saying you don’t have a right to be afraid. Fear touches every living thing. But I don’t think you have anything to be worried about.” Caduceus tilts his head, indicating something behind you. “Because I think he’s scared too.”

Behind you, silently watching this conversation, is Kingsley in all his pirate glory. However, the stance he holds in this particular moment is not one befitting of a swashbuckler. He is trying to seem like he is uninterested but you catch him looking over at the two of you. There’s a fidgety nature to him, like he wants to do two things at the same time.

You do not have the power to read minds, but if you did you would understand that the newest Tealeaf is at war with himself in this moment. His feet and heart long to move toward you while his brain and body refuse to move by the same type of overwhelming fear that you expressed to Caduceus.

Caduceus leans over to whisper to you, “You’re a hero. Go save him. You can help me with the garden after.”

The joke almost excuses the shove Caduceus bestows upon you but regardless, you’re moving in Kingsley’s direction.

As you approach Kingsley reacts immediately, acting as if he had been looking the other way and just noticed you. It was a little silly and made you feel at least a little bit better about your own fears.

“Oh, uh, hello dear, loving weather this afternoon” Kingsley says, with a thin layer of faux nonchalance.

“Hi Kingsley,” you say, “It’s, uh, it’s really good to see you.”

“Good to see you too.”

“Listen, I've got something I want to tell you.”

“This isn’t about-”

“Please just, just wait. I’ve needed to say this for a long time and I don’t want it to get confused or misconstrued. I-” you take a breath as the tiefling in front of you falls quiet- “I love you Kingsley. And I know how that sounds. I know that a lot of the time you feel like you have this pressure on you to be like Molly and you don’t. I know you’ve read Beau’s journals, I know you know what Molly and I were. It’s taken me a while to figure this out but I didn’t want to talk to you about it until I was sure, but I love you. You as yourself, not you as an echo of Molly.”

You take a moment to breathe and gather your thoughts and continue, “You are your own brand of chaos and fit right into our weird little family and even if you don’t feel the same way, I just- I thought you should know.”

Kingsley is stunned for a moment before he takes a tentative step towards you.

“Love,” he says, the word coming out almost like a question, like he’s testing the word in his mouth, “Can I kiss you?”

And who are you to say no to The Plank King.

A few feet away, happily working with the plants that surround his family home, Caduceus smiles, with plans to pull the both of you into yard work with him as soon as you’ve had some time to yourselves.

Navigation

Request Rules/Character Sheet

#kingsley tealeaf x reader #cr kingsley x reader #mollymauk tealeaf x reader #mollymauk x reader #mighty nein x reader #critical role x reader #crit role x reader #x reader

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marvelwitchergilmore · 2 years

Text

Dance with me, Darlin’

Description; Beau Arlen x Reader - After a long case, Beau gets you to open up to him about what’s really been going on.

Warning: Criminal Minds level Violence, mentions of death etc.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

When you had first made it to Big Sky, it had been...a journey. Going from working as just a street cop in Ohio to heading back home to Virginia to work as a Homicide detective for a while, to then heading to work with the FBI in their Behavioural Analysis Unit for a while to just six months ago getting a call saying they had a more...calming job for you in Montana. Big Sky, to be more precise.

But that was just the bigger journey of life. The car ride into Big Sky was also kinda hectic.

You had hit multiple pieces of traffic along the way. You had dealt with at least two empty tanks - mostly because of the traffic. And then your car had finally broke down outside of a Private Investigator’s office.

God, that felt like a life time ago.

You, with annoyance clear in your aura, got out of the car. The door slammed a little too hard than you had wished it to behind you, but you couldn’t concentrate on that right now.

At least your home that you were renting wasn’t that far. Maybe a 10 mintue walk?

“Screw you.”

“Is everything okay?”

You turned around to see a dark haired woman and a blonde one stood side by side, clearly just having come from the building in front of you.

“Yeah.” The words came out as both relief and annoyance. “Just this stupid thing. I’ve got extra fuel in the back.”

“Oh, okay.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

You looked back to her from the trunk of your car.

“I’m Cassie, by the way. This is Jenny.” You shook their hands.

“Y/N.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

The cloud of annoyance had now grown sparse, slowly developing into plain tiredness as you flipped the cap off the fuel tank.

“Yeah,” you sighed. “like I said; this stupid thing. Traffic all the way coming up here...it’s a freaking nightmare.”

“Where are you travelling from?” Jenny asked.

“Uh...Virginia.” you answered. But it wouldn’t have really mattered what you had said since she was round the front of your car checking out your plates.

To be honest, you couldn’t blame her. Some wild stranger breaks down in front of your building? You’d be curious and cautious, too.

“I’m...uh...I’m meant to be starting a new job in-” you checked your watch. Oh, crap. “In a couple of hours.”

“Where are you starting?”

“Police department.” you answered, chucking the closed and empty fuel container back into the trunk and closing the top.

“Oh, I’m deputy Sheriff.” Jenny answered.

“Jenny...Hoyt.” you then looked up to the building sign. Dewell and Hoyt. “God, I-I should have made the connection. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” she smiled. “It’s been a long drive.”

“About four days.” you added. “I don’t fly. I know it’s easier but...I don’t like it.”

“You’re scared of flying?”

“Maybe a little.”

Even the conversation about planes made you on edge.

“Well, you’re lucky. Most things you’ll need are within driving distance.”

You smiled. “Great.”

“I’m just about to head to the station. You can follow me up. They’re doing something on the main road so you’ll have to take the back ones.”

“Okay.” you answered. “Well, it was nice to meet you.”

“You too.” Cassie smiled. “I’m sure we’ll see one another again, soon.”

“Probably.” you agreed.

You’d heard a couple of stories about Jenny and Cassie in the last couple of months before you made the transfer. All good. Mostly badass.

“You’ll get to meet our Sheriff but I have to warn you, he’s a chatty one.”

You smiled. “Kinda gathered.” You had been on the phone twice in total with Sheriff Beau Arlen. Both were pleasent experiences. He seemed liked a good man, and a good Sheriff. You explained all of this to Jenny and Cassie.

By the time you had made it to the Police Department you had already fallen in love with Deputy Poppernak. He was a nice change from the seriously-stern-oak-tree-shoved-up-their-asses cops you’d dealt with in your time. Most of them believed they were Agents at the FBI and had the same power as judges in court.

And it was nice to have a Sheriff who clearly understood his job but still managed to find the light in certain situations.

Working with the BAU and as a cop had shown you how terrible some of them could be at their jobs. How they didn’t actually want the job or how they only took it so they could seem powerful compared to everyone else.

It wasn’t long before you began to feel like you fitted in, in Big Sky.

Whenever you had time, you’d go and hang out with Jenny and Cassie at the Boot Heel - Beau joining 80% of the time. Or you were with Denise in Dewell and Hoyt. She’d tell you all the gossip that was going on in town over a lasanga or tacos. And then, if you weren’t at home on your own, you’d be with Popp in the Police Department. He’d tell you all about his family and fishing whenever you both had to go through boring paperwork.

But that wasn’t to say you’d all had your fair share of dangerous situation.

There had been a couple of cases from three homicides to kidnappings. Your expertise in Behavioural Analysis came in handy on most cases. It gave the department an opportunity to see the crime from another point of view. One they hadn’t fully had before.

But, in recent weeks one case had been getting to you. And that was something they all could see.

From the moment the case came in, your blood had frozen over. It felt all too similar. All too familiar. And when Beau had to pull an old file - a file you had seen too many times to count - that was when the shift fully set in.

Three girls dead. Three more taken in the space of a few weeks. And one of those three died in a ‘fire’ the night before.

For weeks, you worked day and night with the rest of the team. At first, you did everything in your power to avoid the topic. To avoid the case. But you couldn’t.

And that had all come to a head just a few hours ago.

Finally! Freaking finally! He’d been outsmarted. Cornered.

But you were the only one there.

And you froze.

All those years. All those nightmares. They all came down to this man. This sick, twisted, vile man.

His voice just echoed in your ears, over and over as he moved around the empty room, going unnoticed. You didn’t know what to do, where to point your gun? As much as you had him trapped, he had you in just the same position.

“Do they know?” he’d asked you. “Do they know that you think of me?”

Your blood was rushing faster, and faster, and faster. Until finally...Jenny rushed inside. He came out of hiding. And you shot. But not before he shot first.

He couldn’t fully see where to point, but he got you anyway. Just a graze. But he still got you.

Jenny had stopped dead in her tracks looking between the body on the floor and you. She could see the look in your eyes. The same look she’d seen every time they discussed the case. Only, now it was more clear.

It was a look of fear, panic and anger.

“It’s over.” was all you said as she slowly took your gun from your hands which still had it pointing up - but you were slowly lowering it. And, eventually, you managed to make eye contact with her when she placed a hand on your shoulder, too. “It’s finally over.”

Jenny nodded. “It is.” before she looked to the door and saw Beau. He’d checked the man’s pulse. Gone. Forever.

“Hoyt!” Popp called from behind them.

“Is okay,” Beau reassured Jenny as he placed a hand on your other shoulder and arm. “I’ve got her.”

Jenny nodded before rushing to find Poppernak.

“Come on, let’s find a medic.”

You hadn’t spoke a word after that.

Beau led you outside to a medic, standing to the side a little so he could watch them patch you up. You’d live. It might hurt for a few days, but you’d be okay.

And now, you sat in a booth at the Boot Heel.

You would have probably been sat either in Dewell and Hoyt or at home, alone. But Beau had dragged you out to go with him, Jenny and Cassie to the bar. Clearly, this case was more than just a case. And he needed to know why.

“Hey,” Beau knocked your leg with his foot gently under the table. You were sat with one leg and arm up on the back of the booth, your back leaning against the wall as you watched the others in the bar dance to the band. “Talk to me.”

You pulled yourself from your thoughts and looked at him, taking hold of the cold beer beside you.

“What?”

“This case.” Beau stated. “Clearly it meant something to you. I tried to check your records with it and it’s all blacked out. And I want answers. I need answers.”

You sighed. You were going to have to tell them at some point. You had hoped you’d never have to speak of it again. You had a pscheval that cleared you. You had medical exams that cleared you. You were capable of working the case. You had worked the case. But that didn’t stop the reality of something this big hitting you.

“It’s just me and you, Darlin’.”

That was true.

Cassie and Jenny were at the bar being chatted up by two guys.

Beau let you take a moment. You shifted your bullet-grazed arm from the back of the booth chair and place your other leg on the ground before finding the courage - all while scratching the label from your beer bottle - to look at him.

You took a deep breath and slowly began to explain.

“It was back when I worked Homicide.”

“Okay,”

“I was going from case to case. Most offenders left so much DNA behind we caught them soon enough. But then this once case came in. A young girl. 15. Missing. I didn’t worked missing person’s cases but it had made it’s way through to me. She’d been missing for a month an she matched a Jane Doe I had come across about a week earlier. No DNA. No evidence. No nothing. Until one of my deputies came through with a patern. It was our guy. Countless of women across the city. In my part of town, it had only been two women but across Virginia? Maybe 15? Anyway, the case went cold but I kept it open. But then I got the call to join the BAU. I took it but the case stayed with me and then one day...another girl came through. And another. And another. He was esculating. And we thought we had caught the guy - turns out it wasn’t him.”

“How’d you know?”

“I got a package in the mail the next morning.” you answered. It was like it was just yesterday. “A photo, a note and a piece of burnt flesh. Hers. He’d got another girl. We found her two days later. For months we worked on the case and each time we came close but he knew.” You gave a small laugh, an angle of your head and a scratch of the label again. “He always knew. Always just one step ahead of us.”

You paused for a short moment, trying to put your emotions on hold for the next few moments. But Beau just waited.

“Anyway,” you could feel your nerves starting to get to you now. “The case had gone cold. Again. Until I got home after a case in Florida. Everything was normal. I thought I was safe.”

This wasn’t good.

“Until I was stood in my kitchen and was taken from behind. We faught. I managed to grab a kitchen knife and stab him but he found my gun hidden under my kitchen island while I was away. Shot be twice before using my blood to write on the floor beside me. You’ll never catch me. I’ll always be with you. That’s what he wrote. I was in the hospital for a few weeks. But when I went back...it wasn’t the same. One of my teammates, Emily...she’d gone back to my house to try and scrub away the blood but it was like I could still see it. Like I could still see my blood around me and on me. Then, after a few months, I got the call from the Director about a slightly calmer job. They knew I wouldn’t stop working so maybe a calmer situation was best.” You looked back to Beau, a small smile on your face. “And then you called. And I took the job and...now we’re here.”

“I’m sorry, Y/N.”

You looked down for a moment and closed your eyes, shaking your head. “Don’t be. I had - well, the Director and I had one of the tech analyisists black out my file. Garcia - even she couldn’t get into it. The team knew most of what had happened to be but some things I wanted to keep to myself.”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of this earlier?”

“I didn’t want to go back.” you answered honestly. “I have enough flashbacks as it is. And my team back in Quantico...they all knew and I could see that look in their eyes. That look that was watching my every move, just waiting for me to explode or crumble. I love them, but I couldn’t take it. And I can’t take it from any of you, either.”

“Well...” Beau made sure you were looking at him. “If you ever want to talk, I’m here.”

You nodded with a weak smile on you face. “I know.”

A few minutes of silence passed between you two. Cassie and Jenny were still busy at the bar and the band was still playing. You were watching people dance on the wooden floors and, as Beau turned back to look at you, he got an idea.

Shifting from his side of the booth, he finished his ceer and held his hand out.

“Come on.”

You looked to him with a small laugh. “What?”

“We’re dancing.” he told you. “Come on.”

“Beau...”

He held out his hand, that look in his eye. He wasn’t letting an opportunity like this pass.

“Dance with me, Darlin’.”

You looked to the crowd with a small scoff - was he really asking you to dance?

“But I don’t know how.”

He gave a small shrug and pout. “We’ll learn together.”

It took a moment, but you agreed and he took your hand, pulling you up and towards the dance floor.

“Like this?” You placed your hand in his and your other on his arm.

Beau nodded, then placing his hand on your waist to pull you a little closer and you both, slightly awkwardly but still comfortable, danced.

He spun you out before pulling you back in and before you knew it, the awkwardness was gone and replaced with smiling faces and laughter.

Meanwhile, back at the bar Jenny handed Cassie a 10 dollar note.

“What-?”

“Look.”

On the dance floor, yourself and Beau were now in a slightly slower dance. Close. Intimate. Or close to it, anyway. Either way, Jenny knew she’d lost.

Cassie smiled widely. “Ah-ha. I knew it.”

“Yeah, yeah, gloat all you like.” Jenny took a sip of her beer.

“Before you know it, they’ll be like Bonnie and Clyde but on the good side of the law.”

Jenny pointed to Cassie as she swallowed her beer. “I am not betting you on that.”

“Ten bucks it’s in the next two years.”

Jenny grumbled. “Fine. But this time I am having Denise take note because I’m still sure I won the bet about those two becoming friends.”

“Hell no, I won that one.”

“Whatever you say.” Jenny answered before they both looked back to Beau and yourself.

“They look happy, don’t they?”

“Yeah,” Jenny smiled. “They do.”

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blorbologist · 1 year

Note

Power Word Pain Brjeaus?

33.Power Word Pain

"You speak a word of power that causes waves of intense pain to assail one creature you can see within range. If the target has 100 hit points or fewer, it is subject to crippling pain. Otherwise, the spell has no effect on it. A target is also unaffected if it is immune to being charmed."

[I don’t think a CR character has ever cast this, so I’m just going with ~vibes~ instead of the spell]

“Mother - fucking - coward!” snaps Beauregard. Or, Fjord suspects she would, with her usual sharp tongue, if not for how absolutely hammered she is.

How the fuck are they going to get home? Let alone with enough time to sleep this off before the wedding? Which is tomorrow. Gods. He hopes Jester has a spell for this.

Whoever said it’s a Captain’s duty to be the best man is a pigfaced liar.

“To be fair - completely fair,” Fjord points out mildly, adjusting his hold on the drunk monk, “you didn’t invite him!”

“Well, yeah.” He thinks Beau might grumble as he tries to crabwalk them out the door. The tavernkeep is watching them with barely restrained amusement. “Yeah. But! Doesn’t mean I didn’t want him to - fuck, I don’t know.”

“Know? Ow,” she echoes a little dumbly when she knocks her shoulder into the doorframe.

Fjord is very glad for the lapse she finds herself in as he faces down stairs. He really wishes they were both more sober - especially Beau. Bets she could dope monk shit her way down no problem.

“How about -” he tries the first step, nudges Beau after him. She takes two at a time, leaving him stumbling to keep them upright. “How about we leave this until after we’ve reached the bottom in one piece?”

Beau nods. Bobs, more like it. “Sure. Yeah. Can do, Capt’n.”

She actually listens, which saves them at least three falls. Between the both of them - Expositor of the Cobalt Soul, Captain of the Hein Heroez - they actually manage to defeat some rickety steps with only a yelp between them.

He thinks Beau has forgotten what they were discussing, while he sorts out the right way to her house. It’s not as packed as you’d expect, given Caleb simply summoned the Tower inside. Fjord actually forgets all about it, wondering just how many rooms the man could fit in there, if they had a larger wedding party, when-

“Man, I just fucking wanted ‘im to try, you know?”

“Beau,” Fjord says, “are you alright?”

“Yeah. Duh.” She sniffles.

“You are crying.”

This one comes out shrill. “Am not. You’re not my fuckin’ mom.”

“I am your best man,” he replies. “And I don’t think you should be crying about anything the eve of your wedding.”

Beau’s steps have slowed to a stop. She sways - into his side, far too heavy for how small she is, only to careen away as he struggles to not drop her. “Could cry ‘bout how beautiful Yasha is. Myyyyy wife tomorrow!”

The gravel purrs underfoot. “Yes,” he agrees, “but you’re not really crying about that, right now.”

“What if I am?” There’s a pause as he tries his best to convey how little he fucking buys that. “What if you’re right. Maybe. And I just… wish he’d tried tuh - to reach out. Ask why he didn’t get one. Beg, maybe. Say he’d change.”

Fjord starts coaxing them towards a tree. They’ll be in late anyways - he figures they should sit down for this. He’s not the most steady on his feet either.

“I hope you’d say no. If he did ask.”

“Of course,” she agrees. “And I’d cuss him out and tell him he’s - fuck. It’s stupid.”

“No it’s not.” He gently eases her around a truly impressive pothole and into the roadside grasses. “You, stupid? Often, yes, but not now.”

“Well - fuck you too.”

A glance out the corner of his eyes tells him Beau is making a great effort to watch where her feet go. He’s sure if he gives it enough time, she will keep - “Wanted the chance to say no. Tell him to fuck off and for it to actually hurt. For it to actually be something he wanted. But he - he never wanted me enough to think this is important. Worth it.”

He sighs through his nose. “Beau -”

That sigh morphs into something like a scream as his foot catches a root and they come crashing to the ground. Which is nothing, to a man who has been through as much as Fjord, but the Wildemother has a sort of humor tonight. His boot holds fast, or the root holds faster, and his ankle twists into sharp pain on the way down.

“Fuck!” At least Beau rolls out of the way on instinct, because he hits the ground hard. “Balls - mother of shit! That hurts!”

“Ah fuck - sorry Fjord.” He hears Beau shifting. Does not see, really, because he’s clutching his foot. The pain almost pulses through his shoes, his nice shoes, and up his calf.

She slumps gratefully into the tree, almost dragging her down with him. Maybe it would be easier if she had - in the moment Fjord can’t quite figure out how to sit in the tangle of roots. “I’m - ow, my - owwwwww.” He gets distinct rubbing her sore ass feelings from that familiar groan.

“We’re going to die out here,” Fjord wheezes between sways of his rocking. Fuck, ow. “And our fiances are going to have to haul us home.”

“It would be a hot as fuck though.”

He feels himself flush something almost blue. “Yeah - yes.” In all likelihood, once he’s over his pity party, once Beau has sobered up a bit, they’ll endure the great migration home. Maybe the pain will help, once he can walk.

“Can you walk?” Beau echoes.

“Too soon to tell.” He exhales sharply as he tries resting the ankle against a root. That’s not great. Settles for leaning back on his palms. “Well. We have time. The wedding can’t happen without you, anyways.”

Beau nods. “Veth could Disguise Self to look like you,” she says. Can’t seem to suggest who would pretend to be her, though, and so mulls it over.

Fjord… cannot think much, as the pain heaves through him, tugged through by corded ropes in his muscles. But Beau’s earlier hurt - pain, just as real as this - nags at him.

“Aha - I’ve got it.” Beau squints at him. She doesn’t have her goggles on, so he doubts it helps much. Fjord grins broadly, in the hopes the moonlight catches and conveys cheek more than distress.

“Of course your father couldn’t come - he’s scared to death your wife will kill him!”

Perfectly rational explanation.

#the bestiessss #critical role #campaign 2 #the mighty nein #brjeaus #beauregard lionett #fjord #cr fjord #beauyasha #tagged bc of theys wedding #cr fanfic #critical role fanfiction #spell ask game #my writing #this was my first time writing Fjord POV and it's been a While since ive studied his voice so!! hope I did our boy ok. and if not hes drunk

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garbageboy-stinkman · 7 months

Text

"kill them with kindness" WRONG. gum gum gatling 👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊👊

#one piece #is this anything?#beaus great one piece watch

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barbiewritesstuff · 2 years

Note

Ok ok but *clenches fist* Beau taking his frustration out is the hottest thing ever

I need to lie down for a bit 🥵

Also how is Beau saying yes ma'am the most delicious piece of writing ever?? I'm getting worked up stop no more mental images

I definitely need to lie down

Him taking his frustration on his fwb/gf is obscenely hot to me!!! BUT I also like to think about what happens afterwards....

(Tw. NSFW, minors dni)

Also I am super sleepy so pardon me if this isn't great but it has been haunting me all day and it needs to get out of my brain, hope you still enjoy it though.

----

"You were so good for me babygirl," he said as soon as Fleet Commander Fischer left for good, coming up to stand behind you.

He could feel your legs trembling as he wrapped his arms around you. You sighed and leaned against him, letting your head drop against his shoulder.

"You're always so good for me, letting me use you,"he whispered into your ear, "Here babygirl, why don't you sit down," he added, guiding you to his desk chair.

You sat down with a wince, feeling sore from Beau's punishing thrusts. He knelt down in front of you, gently moving your leg over his shoulder and running a finger against your core, gathering up as much of his seed as he could and gently pushing his middle finger inside of you, fucking his cum in and out of you.

You groaned at the feeling, half because of the overstimulation and half because you needed more. As if he was able to read your mind, Beau bent down and licked down your core, parting your lips with his tongue and flicking it against your clit. You whimpered at the feeling and you felt him smile against you, moving his tongue faster but keeping the speed at which he pumped his seed into you the same.

The knot inside your stomach tightened with each one of his ministrations until Beau removed both his fingers and his mouth from your pussy.

"You taste so good, baby. Wanna try?" He asked, wiping his finger against your mouth, leaving you no choice but to part your lips and lick it clean. Beau hummed, his eyes dark and his pupils blown-out again, "Such a good little slut," he growled.

Without warning, Beau spat on your aching core and watched his saliva drip down to you entrance, mixing itself in with his release. He brought his mouth down on you again, building you up, tightening the knot again until you were teetering on the edge of orgasm again.

Feeling how close you were to cumming, Beau's mouth left your clit, quickly replaced by his thumb while his tongue travelled down, teasing your entrance.

You whimpered and moaned, incapable of asking what you wanted as your brain seemingly shut down. Luckily, you didn't need to talk. Beau fucked his tongue into you while his thumb rubbed circles around your clit and the knot in your tummy snapped.

His large hand flew to your face to cover your mouth, stifling the obscene noise you had almost released into the naval base. His eyes closed and he stayed there lazily moving himself against you as you rode out your high, content to feel you unravel around his tongue.

Once you stilled once more, he moved himself away from you. Both of you suddenly grew aware of the wet pool between your legs, soaking the leather of the chair, ruining it in the process.

"Look at you baby, you ruined my chair," he said, "I'll have to punish you for that..."

You managed a smile, pushing you off of your seat on wobbly legs to hopefully make your way to the showers to wash of the smell of sex and the trail of cum that had made it down to your sock when Fleet Admiral Fischer came in.

You turned towards the door and your stomach suddenly sank, "Beau, I swear that door was closed when Fischer left..."

#fanfic #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #top gun x reader #fanfiction #original fic #cyclone x reader #cyclone #beau cyclone simpson #beau simpson x reader #beau simpson

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thebiggerbear · 8 months

Text

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Heartbreak - Beau x Cassie - Prompt Response

A/N: Prompt from prompt list by @dumplingsjinson. Full disclosure, I have no idea how old Kai is in season 3. For some reason, I thought he was 9? Not sure if this info was from this season or just in season 1 so I left him as 9 here to be safe. This one is all in Jenny POV.

Just a note: As much as I love Jenny (and Katheryn), I just never saw her and Beau as a pairing. (those who ship it, all power to you, it's just not my personal cup of tea) To me, Kylie had more chemistry with Jensen, and she also had more with Katheryn than Katheryn ever did with Jensen. As much as I love Jensen and Katheryn as actors, I just didn't feel it. That whole intro scene in 2x18 didn't feel like romantic/sexual tension as much as it did just good ol' regular tension (which fit Jenny's story better compared to where she was in her journey at that point). Then Jenny felt completely out of character when it came to him from the beginning of the third season. And things just got more cringe-inducing from there for me. Not only did it feel like it was being shoved down our throats instead of unfolding organically (I prefer the organic route) but they seemed to have forgotten about other characters (such as Cassie) in the show and made a show about two strong kickass women revolve around a possible romantic pairing, and one of those badass female characters revolve around a guy. I'm not sure why the writers chose to do that but it just didn't work for me. So while I love Jenny on her own as a character, I'm always writing from that perspective if that makes sense.

Unbeta'd so all mistakes are mine.

Please do not do any of the above. Thank you for your understanding.

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

“You break the tradition and you end up being cursed for life. Is that what you want?” “…Are you blackmailing me right now?”

Jenny downed the rest of the drink in her glass as she watched her two best friends laughing and teasing each other while Kai opened gifts. Considering this had been her second round since she had arrived thirty minutes earlier, she had sworn she was going to slow down, merely sip the liquid in roughly five minute intervals, but when she saw her two favorite people in the world smiling at each other the way they were, that plan was quickly thrown out the window.

Kai had just ripped open the gift Beau had handed to him, and he was excitedly showing the box to his mother. “Mom, look! Beau got me the Harry Potter Lego set!”

Beau shot a grin over at Jenny and she gave him a warm smile in return, her chest suddenly feeling a bit lighter. She would never admit it out loud but she loved seeing that happy grin of his. It didn’t always grace his handsome features, especially lately, but when it did…well, her world became that much brighter.

“Wow,” Cassie played along. “That’s great.” She took the proffered box and flipped it over, studying the pictures. “Now Beau has something to play with, too.”

And just like that, Beau’s attention was wrested away from her and it landed squarely on Cassie, making that light feeling from a second ago vanish into thin air. “Hey! I will have you know that I am a master at Lego building, and I am not ashamed of that fact. Legos are seriously cool. Right, Kai?”

“Right!” Kai gave Beau an enthusiastic high five when the latter held his hand up.

Cassie shook her head, chuckling, and placed the box on the coffee table. “Says the guy who literally planned to set the Harry Potter 4D puzzle on fire when we weren’t looking. I had to babysit the stove, hide the matches, and lock the backdoor so he couldn’t make it out to the firepit.”

Beau’s jaw dropped, making Kai giggle. “Did you not see the size of that thing? Besides, why do they call it a puzzle anyway? In my day, puzzles were pieces of a picture you put together, or you actually built something like that. Not both.” Cassie snickered as she picked up the torn wrapping paper. “Which is why,” he reached over and tapped on the box of the model car Kai had unwrapped just before. “I got this. I’ll show you both how it’s done, just you wait.” He snuck a discreet wink in Kai’s direction which made the young boy laugh again.

“Oh, I’m sure you will, Sheriff,” Cassie teased. Jenny knew Cassie wouldn’t admit it but she had looked at the box of the model car with more interest than Kai had. She had even given a low whistle of appreciation when she saw that the model was one 1967 Chevy Impala, something that made the man sitting on the opposite side of the couch smile knowingly. Jenny was also pretty sure that Beau choosing that gift for Kai while also adding Cassie’s name to the tag had been no accident either. It was no secret that her friend loved cars.

Jenny saw that all too familiar gleam in Beau’s green eyes and she nearly dug her fingernails into her empty glass. But just as soon as it had appeared, it was gone, and Beau was handing Kai another wrapped box. “One more, kiddo.” Cassie gave Beau a look and he held up his hands in placation. “It’s the last one, I promise.”

Kai eagerly unwrapped said gift and he studied the box in confusion for a moment.

“It’s your very own fishing rod,” Beau explained. “And I’ll show you how to use it when I take you and your mom camping.”

“Camping?” Kai asked excitedly.

“Camping,” Beau confirmed, smiling. “And none of that glamping nonsense. The real deal. Tent, sleeping bags, campfire, and everything.”

“Mom, look, Beau got me a fishing rod and we’re going to go camping!”

Jenny’s wide eyes snapped to Cassie, seeing the latter tense. She knew that Cassie had been wanting to take Kai fishing and camping for the longest time, way before Beau had even come to town. But that wasn’t what Jenny was worried about. Cassie’s father was supposed to join them; that had always been the plan. And now…now it would just be her and Kai. Cassie had never been able to muster up the will to take Kai after her dad’s death. She knew it was because Cassie didn’t want to feel that overwhelming absence, that profound loss, not until she was ready to face it. And now, she was being forced to do so because their friend, while generous and well-meaning, simply hadn’t checked with her first before purchasing this gift or making this promise to her son.

Beau seemed to suddenly realize this as well when Cassie took too long to respond to Kai. He immediately reached over and laid a gentle hand on her arm. “Only when you’re ready,” he reassured. “The offer’s always open.”

Cassie gave him and Kai a smile that was more of a grimace, nearly making Jenny wince. “That’s great, Kai. I need to check on the food so I’ll be right back.” Cassie grabbed the remnants of the wrapping paper and made a hasty retreat into the kitchen, not making eye contact with any of them.

Kai started to open his Lego kit, blissfully unaware of any tension taking the place of the merriment that had been surrounding this moment previously. Beau exchanged a worried glance with Jenny before jumping to his feet, ruffling Kai’s hair, and making his way after Cassie. Jenny decided to give them a minute to talk before going to get a refill. Instead, she focused on Kai putting Lego pieces together and smiled. She remembered those days; how time had passed. Thinking back to Justin doing something similar years ago and seeing the joy upon his young face helped to take the sting out of the memory of Cody being there to help him as Jenny contentedly watched her family. Christmas had been the one holiday that thankfully hadn’t been plagued by their constant arguments or Cody’s drinking.

“What have you got there, buddy?”

Kai proudly held up a portion of the tower he was already assembling. “Hogwarts.”

Jenny made sure to give him an expression of delighted surprise before he went back to his task. “Ohhh, very nice.” She tried to pretend that she wasn’t bothered by Beau making sure to get Kai something Harry Potter related that they could build together since the aforementioned puzzle obviously hadn’t worked out. It was moments like this that she felt bad for how all of this affected her; she loved Cassie and her son, and her husband’s former partner was her best friend. But she’d be lying if she said that seeing this makeshift family scene didn’t make her heart hurt.

She had feelings for Beau, something she had taken way too long to admit to herself. She hadn’t realized that the charming single father had gotten under her skin. When she had first met him, she told herself that he was temporary and very Texas as Cassie had mentioned. And she believed that eventually, the powers that be would see that she was the perfect choice to fill in for Tubb. Not some random Texan transplant who didn’t even appear to want the job that he had been handed. It even burned her that the higher ups had obviously preferred for a man to take the position instead of her since she was a woman. And so when Poppernak sucked up to Beau, she made sure to let him know that she didn’t appreciate it, to which the deputy would apologize, declare he was Team Hoyt, and keep his head down when he was in the same room as the two. When Cassie talked about him, Jenny made sure to let her know that Beau was indeed temporary. She would tell her about how crazy he drove her with all of his chatter and constant waxing poetic on life. She would even join Cassie in rolling her eyes at Denise’s obvious crush on the man.

But somewhere along the way, it all changed. Before she knew it, she was head over heels for the guy and at a loss of what to do about it. Because by that time, she and Beau had a good thing going at work that she didn’t want to ruin by being too forward, and he and Cassie were as close as could be. She would consistently try to gauge just how badly he still had it for his ex-wife ever since he basically admitted it to her on the day they first met, but he kept giving her roundabout answers which only left her more confused than when she first went into their conversation. He would talk about his daughter all day, but not make one peep about Carla. She had even tried to get a read on his relationship with Cassie, but just like with his ex, he was evasive in his responses. While Cassie assured her that they were just friends, Jenny wasn’t so sure if Beau viewed their bond in the same way. He had told her the same when she asked before their first movie night, but she noticed since then that he tended to dodge her questions about their best friend. And watching the two of them together, like before…it left Jenny unwilling to put it all on the line just yet.

Sure, Jenny had tried to give subtle hints along the way. She had even flirted, with Beau and with other men in his presence, just to see what he would do. But when she barely got a reaction out of him, she started to wonder if he was indeed interested or ever would be. She knew they had been building their own friendship outside of work, to the point where Jenny felt comfortable enough to show up at Beau’s place a half hour before she and Cassie were supposed to arrive for movie night, so she could get some one on one time with him that didn’t involve a crime to solve. Beau didn’t seem to mind and they made some easy conversation, having their own banter, until Cassie had arrived. She told herself that Beau’s face lighting up when seeing Cassie’s truck pull up had simply been his delight in the fact that movie night could commence (since he had confided to her that he had picked a good one this time) and not because of Cassie’s arrival itself. She chose to believe that Beau’s jumping up and hurrying down to greet Cassie and taking the two six-packs she had brought from her to carry back to the trailer was him simply being a gentleman and nothing more. She even made herself smile when Beau quietly snuck into the Airstream later during the movie and reappeared with a blanket in hand, spreading it over a sleeping Cassie, and gently inserting the pillow from his chair underneath her head. She even forced herself to think it was sweet when Beau offered to drive Cassie home when she woke up, purposely ignoring the way he tenderly brushed a curl out of the younger woman’s eyes when she first opened them, an affectionate smile on his handsome face.

Beau was a good man, sensitive in all of the areas that mattered and he had a heart that did indeed rival the size of his home state. So Jenny liked that he could show such kindness to another woman, and it was even better that the woman was her best friend. But seeing increasing moments like this between them, on the heels of her lack of success in hinting to Beau that she wanted something more in their own relationship…well, it began to sting and a new crack started to form in her already well-worn heart.

And now, seeing just how deeply entrenched Beau was in not only Cassie’s life but her family…well, that burned on a whole new level.

Which is what prompted her to give Kai a smile and get to her feet, intent on getting another drink, deciding that she had given her friends long enough to privately discuss the recent issue between them. Walking into the kitchen, she stopped short, the burning at an all time high when she saw Beau hugging Cassie who was sniffling and wiping at her eyes, her head laying on his shoulder while he murmured something to her. Jenny attempted to swallow past the quickly forming lump in her throat but it was useless. She hated moments like this for obvious reasons, but she also hated them because of how much she loved Cassie. She was always filled with warring emotions when she witnessed things like this between the two, and the guilt would always inevitably follow. How could she harbor any resentment for Beau comforting and reassuring their best friend? He had done the same for her when Poppernak had been taken hostage, when her mom had resurfaced and then left her to pick up the pieces again…how could she even think of wanting to deny Cassie this embrace?

Her grip on her glass tightened (which miraculously didn’t shatter it) when Beau kissed Cassie’s hair. “We’ll only go when you’re ready, okay?” At her nod, his hand rubbed at her back. “I can change the dates up and we can maybe try again in the summer. But only if you’re ready.”

Cassie sniffled and pulled back to look up at him. “No, you already took the time off of work.”

“I can easily fix that. Or maybe we can do something else during that time. We could go to the Museum or we could check out the Hot Springs that Pop keeps talking about or we could even have a Harry Potter marathon. You know Kai would love that.”

She let out a laugh. “Yeah, he would.” She wiped at a tear that had shook loose and sniffled again. “No, let’s stick to the plan. We’ll give camping a try.”

“You sure? We don’t have to.”

Smiling, Cassie gave him a nod. “Yeah,” she reassured. “If my dad were here, he’d tell us to go and have fun. So that’s what we’ll do.”

Beau gave her a soft smile and reached up to tenderly wipe underneath her eyes with his thumbs. “Okay.” He continued to watch her, stroking her cheek.

While she was glad they had resolved things, Jenny decided that she’d stayed silent long enough. She quietly cleared her throat, making the two turn to look at her. “Sorry. Just looking to get a refill.”

Cassie wiped underneath her eyes once more, moving out of Beau’s embrace, and held out a hand for Jenny’s glass. “Oh, actually, we were just talking about that. We’re going to make eggnog. You in?”

Jenny dismissed the urge to point out that eggnog was obviously not what they had just been talking about, and gave Cassie a shrug. “Sure. Need some help?”

“Actually, you mind cracking a few eggs?” Beau asked, pulling out the egg carton and setting it on the counter in front of her.

“I think I can manage that,” she teased, giving him a smile which he returned as he placed a clear bowl in front of her.

Cassie attempted to make small talk as they worked, obviously trying to keep attention from being called to her earlier crying jag. Jenny and Beau went along with it, mercilessly teasing one another as well as her. It seemed to work since Cassie was smiling and laughing way more than she had been a few minutes prior. Beau and Cassie moved seamlessly around the kitchen, working together to get the milk and heavy cream set up. It was like watching a well oiled machine: Cassie moved around Beau to get to certain drawers, Beau grabbed an item from a high shelf to hand to her without her having to ask, they never warned each other when moving in their joint space but just seemed to instinctively know where the other was at all times. Not to mention Beau never needed to ask Cassie where something was located. It was obvious that Beau had been here often enough that he knew his way around Cassie’s kitchen, and that made Jenny’s chest feel heavy.

When the eggnog was done, Beau slipped out into the living room to ask Kai if he wanted some, so they could add in the liquor afterwards. When he disappeared, Jenny turned to Cassie and laid a hand on her shoulder. “You okay?”

Cassie gave her a warm, genuine smile. “Yeah. I know I had a moment there earlier but yeah, I’m okay.”

“Good.” Jenny squeezed her shoulder, glad that Cassie was indeed feeling better. She didn’t want her friend to be sad, especially on Christmas of all holidays.

At that moment, a bouncing Kai ran in followed close behind by a grinning Beau. She watched as Cassie poured a generous amount into Kai’s glass before adding liquor into the bowl of remaining eggnog. Jenny pretended not to see Beau’s hand discreetly lay on Cassie’s back while she doled out their servings or his smile as he looked at Cassie while she gave a speedy Christmas toast. She ignored how Beau and Cassie smiled at Kai proudly when he said something funny, and how for a moment it seemed like they were their own little family and she was the intruder watching them in their separate bubble. She avoided wondering just why Beau pressed a kiss to the side of Cassie’s head before leaving to use the bathroom, and why Cassie seemed to lean into him when he did. And it was absolutely no surprise to her when they somehow ended up underneath mistletoe that had mysteriously appeared in the archway between the kitchen and living room while Peggy Lee’s “The Christmas Spell” played in the background.

Cassie had gotten up to check on the turkey when Beau was coming out at the same time with his and Jenny’s glasses filled with more eggnog. Almost having a near crash, both laughed as they worked their way around each other before Cassie disappeared into the kitchen.

Beau handed Jenny her eggnog and placed his glass down on the coffee table, near where Kai had resurrected most of Hogwarts in the short time since he had opened the box. “Thank you.” Beau shot her a wink, making her dig her teeth into her bottom lip while smiling. That smile faded when he hurried back over to the archway.

Cassie came out in the next second and nearly ran into Beau again. “Oh, sorry. Wait, didn’t we just do this?” She let out a laugh and Beau grinned, glancing up above their heads which forced her to do the same. It felt like Jenny’s heart stopped in her chest.

“Where did that come from?” Cassie sounded genuinely perplexed. When her gaze settled on Beau again, it was at that time that Jenny was sure that she and Cassie both knew who had planted the sprig there. Since neither had seen him do it and it hadn’t been in place when they all came back into the living room earlier, Jenny had a sneaking suspicion that he had waited until she had run to the bathroom and Cassie had gone to check on the food still cooking. Her heart ached when she realized that not only had Beau not put the mistletoe on the archway of the hallway that led to the bathroom in order to surprise her when she came back, but he hadn’t just offered to go get her a refill when she stated she needed one out of the kindness of his heart. He had set this whole thing up.

“Not sure. But it really doesn’t matter now, does it? It’s there. We’re both under it. You know what that means.”

Cassie gave him a smirk. “Since when are you all about Christmas traditions, Sheriff?”

“When have I ever not been about Christmas traditions?” She went to answer him when he spoke again. “All I’m saying is we should honor it. Because if we don’t, there’s bound to be some serious consequences. You break the tradition and you end up being cursed for life. Is that what you want? ”

She blinked over at him. “…Are you blackmailing me right now?”

Beau shrugged, his grin growing wider. “Nope. Just stating facts.”

“Mom, it’s tradition,” Kai echoed, watching them both as intently as Jenny was. She also didn’t miss the discreet wink Beau sent his way, confirming that he did indeed set all of this up beforehand.

“Oh, well if it’s tradition.” Jenny’s heart began to pound, seeing Cassie lift up and press a kiss to Beau’s bearded cheek.

“Mom, that’s not tradition!”

Jenny’s heart started to calm down as Cassie laughed and went to walk away. Though Beau stopping Cassie’s progress then immediately sent her heart rate through the roof again. Cassie glanced back to find his green eyes intent on her and Jenny knew exactly what was going to follow.

“Like the kid said, that’s not tradition,” he murmured before cupping Cassie’s face and pulling her into him, touching his lips to hers. The crack in Jenny’s heart widened and the longer the kiss lasted, the bigger it grew.

When they slowly broke apart and Beau hummed, “Now that’s tradition,” while stroking Cassie’s jawline with the latter glancing up at him in an almost daze, not hearing Kai’s laughter while hiding his head in embarrassment, Jenny’s heart split into two pieces inside her chest and she’d decided she had enough. She tried not to make it obvious, she really did, but she’d had all she could take.

She sprung to her feet and pulled out her keys. “Well, I should really be going.”

That snapped Cassie out of the bubble she had been in with Beau, and she turned to Jenny with furrowed brows. “Wait, you’re leaving? We haven’t even eaten yet.”

Jenny waved a dismissive hand. “That’s okay. I actually just remembered that I told Justin I’d call him in the next twenty minutes so I’m gonna head home to do that.” She hadn’t made any such promise but she had to get out of there and he was the first thing that popped into her mind. She was sure Justin was busy spending time with his girlfriend’s family, and besides that, they had already chatted earlier in the day.

“You can call him from here, can’t you? You can use my room if you want some privacy.”

“No, no, that’s okay.”

“Hoyt, call him from here. Dinner should be ready in half an hour. It would be good to get some food in your system. You and I have been hitting that eggnog pretty hard. So, stay. We’ve got a pecan pie that Em and her mom made for Cass. It’s guaranteed to knock your boots off. Just don’t let my ex know I said that because she will never let that go,” he joked.

Had she not just witnessed what she did, Jenny might have been able to convince herself that Beau truly wanted her to stay. “I’m fine,” she assured him, not really meeting his eyes. As far as her coherence and intoxication levels went, that wasn’t a lie. It was everything else that wasn’t doing so well. A part of her even tried to tell herself that maybe Beau had only set up this mistletoe kiss with Cassie because he might be a bit tipsy (though he had seemed alright to her), but the logical part of her quickly shut that down, reminding her that people’s inhibitions lowered when they drank. So regardless, Beau had wanted this to happen, alcohol in his bloodstream or not. That last thought spurred her on. “It’s only a fifteen minute drive for me.”

Cassie gave Jenny an encouraging smile. “Beau’s right. You should stay. Denise also sent over her infamous banana cream pie and I know you love that one. Come on, we’ll eat and relax and just have a good time tonight.”

Jenny forced herself to ignore her broken heart and smile back at her friend. “I appreciate it but really, I should go. Save me a slice of each pie and I’ll swing by and pick them up tomorrow, okay?”

Cassie looked dubious as did Beau. “Jenny…”

“It’s fine,” she insisted. “Listen, it’s been fun. Thank you for having me over today. It really…helped.” And Jenny meant it. Despite how much pain she was in now, Cassie had given her a place to go to for the holiday when Justin had decided at the last minute to go meet his girlfriend’s family instead. The same offer Cassie had extended to Beau when Emily had asked him if she could see him a few days after Christmas so she could go with her mom and Avery to visit Avery’s parents.

“Of course. You’re welcome here anytime, you know that.”

Jenny gave her a pained smile and nodded. “Yeah.” She did know that. She almost wished that Beau had kissed someone else; it wouldn’t lessen the pain any, but it might make things a little bit easier. If only Cassie wasn’t her best friend, then maybe…just maybe this wouldn’t be as bad. Especially given their history. But one look into Cassie’s dark brown eyes and then Beau’s confirmed that this was different than last time. Beau wasn’t Cody and he had never really been hers to begin with. Despite her feelings and her attempts at making them known, he still ended up slipping through her fingers. So yes, she definitely needed some time alone to mourn the loss of what she had wanted these past few months and what could have been.

After hugging Kai and dropping a kiss to the top of his head, Jenny gave Cassie a one-armed hug, determined not to let her best friend see just how much she was breaking inside. When the time came to embrace Beau, she did her best not to lean into the hug; she was pretty sure if she did, she’d never let him go. She even scolded herself internally when she realized she was breathing in his cologne and closing her eyes to savor the moment. Jenny wrenched herself away from him and gave both of her friends a smile that definitely didn’t reach her eyes, declining their offer to walk her to the door. Her head was spinning enough as it was, and the joint proposition despite this being Cassie’s home nearly tipped her over the edge.

After promising she’d text when she got home, she waved and hastily made her exit. Only when she was behind the wheel of her Bronco, driving back to her empty house, did she feel like she could start to breathe again. And with those breaths came heart-wrenching sobs and a river of tears, so much so that she ended up having to pull over for a few minutes until they subsided.

With the crying jag came the realization that perhaps she had never really had a chance to begin with. By the time she had understood her feelings, it had already been too late. Beau had met Cassie first, they had formed a bond that she had no idea about until he had revealed it to her months later…what chance did she have against that? Especially when she had been actively trying to guard her heart against the man since he had backed her up on letting Travis go free.

Jenny really did her best to keep him at arm’s length, still raw from her heartbreak with Travis. And now as she thought back over their interactions, all she could feel was regret. She had made sure to let him know that he was temporary more than once. She had shut him down every single time he began to tell her stories about his brother and his childhood, not caring for his chatter. She had even discussed his past in Houston with Carla, which Beau did not end up being happy about when he found that out from the latter.

“If you want to know something about me, then ask me,” he had practically growled at her. His hands were on his hips as he glared at her, and she knew he meant business.

“I was trying not to push. I wanted to respect your privacy, figuring you’d tell me when you were ready.”

“By asking my ex-wife about it? That’s respecting my privacy? That’s waiting for me to tell you when I’m ready?”

Jenny knew she had screwed up but she refused to back down. “I didn’t ask her anything. She offered up the information!”

“Which you should have shut down. You were there to find out what was going on with Avery during a murder investigation, not compare notes on my personal life. You were wrong, Jenny, and you know it.”

She was wrong and she did know it. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t trying to—”

“Save it,” he hissed before walking away. She had never seen Beau so angry. Which she told Cassie when meeting up for drinks with her later on. Cassie had asked why she just didn’t ask him about Houston like she had suggested. Jenny contemplated it and ended up shrugging, saying she really did want to give him space to tell her himself but she also wanted to know what made Beau tick.

To her credit, Cassie didn’t say anything in response to that. Instead, she lifted her beer bottle to her lips. “He’ll forgive you, don’t worry. He’s not the type of guy to hold a grudge.”

Jenny gave her a sad smile. “And Avery being on his punch list is…what? A coincidence?”

Cassie shrugged. “That’s different. Em is involved and there’s more… It’s just different.”

Jenny nodded, focusing on the label of her bottle as she picked at it.

Cassie laid a hand on her shoulder. “Just give him some time. He’ll come around.”

And just as Cassie had said, Beau did. Despite that little hiccup, everything seemed to be back on track with them. But now as she sat crying on the side of the road, she regretted moments like those. Where she clearly hadn’t navigated things with him in the way she should have, but Cassie always had. Cassie had always known what to say to him, something Jenny had begun to resent. She wanted to be the one that Beau turned to after a hard day, after he had another argument with Carla over their daughter, or even after he was having a particularly bad time when the grief would sneak up on him and douse him with tragic memories from Houston. She wanted Beau to talk to her about what happened in his marriage, what happened to his partner, and what his overall plans were. Did he plan to stay in the AirStream forever? Did he plan to put down roots and buy a home in town? A house where Emily would have her own room until she left for college? A kitchen where he would stock food that wasn’t well past its expiration date? Would he stay in Lewis & Clark County permanently? Would he open himself back up and give the Helena dating pool a try? She wanted to know all of these things.

Now, she was pretty sure she had an idea on what the answer to most of those questions would be, if not all of them. And it hurt like hell.

So it wasn’t really a surprise when a few weeks later, Beau got a call while he was in her passenger seat as they barrelled towards an address Poppernak had given them and she automatically knew who the caller was from the huge smile on his face. And if that wasn’t confirmation enough, him not putting the call on speakerphone and his warm greeting gave it away completely.

“Hey.”

Jenny dug her teeth into her lip and hoped the call would be a quick one. She was barely holding it together these days as it was.

“I’m with Hoyt and we’re running down an address on that case I was telling you about. That’s the one. Yeah.” Beau then glanced at the watch on his wrist. “Uh, yeah, it shouldn’t take too long. The guy might not even be there. You want me to pick that up? You sure? I can swing it if you give me… Alright. You’re the best, you know that? Yeah, I’m not repeating that. Okay, I’ll bring it, don’t you worry. Uh huh. Okay, yeah, I’ll keep you posted.”

Jenny did her best not to notice when Beau angled his body closer to the door and said in a quieter tone, “See you soon, sweetheart.” She closed her eyes briefly in pain and forced herself to focus on the road ahead. “Me, too.” She could have sworn that her getting shot a year and a half ago had hurt less.

When he hung up the call, he turned to give her a smile, chuckling. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine,” she forced out. After a minute of silence, she did the one thing that the voice inside her head screamed at her not to do but she had always been stubborn as hell: she asked. “Another movie night?”

Beau seemed caught off guard at the question, obviously not having planned to elaborate on the phone call or more likely, he had been stuck in his thoughts of said phone call which made her hurt even more. “Uh, yeah,” he chuckled. “Well, it’s more of a…date night actually.”

Jenny’s fingers tightened their grip on the steering wheel, though she forced her tone to remain nonchalant. “Oh. Nice. Who’s the lucky lady?”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Beau shoot her a look of disbelief, most likely trying to determine if she was serious. After a few beats, he must have decided that yes, she was indeed serious. “It’s Cassie. Come on, Hoyt, you’re supposed to be one of my top investigators,” he joked.

It hurt like hell but she made herself smile. “I always knew you were interested.” The truth was she had suspected it, especially when he continued to artfully dodge questions about Cassie and how close they were getting, but the closer she and Beau got in their own friendship, she had hoped her gut instinct had gotten it wrong for once. Even when Beau had kissed Cassie under the mistletoe as he had planned those few weeks ago. While that night had broken her heart, she still clung to the hope that maybe her two friends had decided not to go there. Apparently, that wasn’t the case. “I should have bet money on you two.” She hoped that didn’t sound as bitter as she felt.

Beau grinned but focused his attention back on the road. “Let’s just focus on the job for now. So we can get in, get what we need, and head back to the station.”

“Riiiight,” she teased, making him chuckle.

When he turned to look out his window, Jenny glanced over at him. She studied his features intently, feeling her heart break all over again. Just when she thought there was nothing left of her to be broken, the universe had decided to prove her wrong once more. She wished she could just tell him how she truly felt, to see if that made any difference in his decision, to see if it made any dent. It sounded as if their relationship was in the early stages, maybe if she said something now, the fallout wouldn’t be as bad and he might just return her feelings. Perhaps he thought Cassie was the only option left available to him because Jenny hadn’t been truly open with him. Perhaps he was making the same mistake Cassie had made with Lindor; he trusted her and felt comfortable with her in their friendship so he naturally was choosing the path of least resistance and maximum comfort. The logical part of her told herself that she was pulling justifications out of thin air, that this was bound to hurt her friendships with not only Beau but Cassie as well. But the other part didn’t care; the other part wanted Beau, was in love with him even, and she couldn’t stay quiet anymore.

She opened her mouth to say exactly what she was feeling, consequences be damned, when Beau spoke up. “You know, Jenny…” His tone was quiet, thoughtful, and vulnerable. He had surprised her by using her first name — he never used her first name. She knew then that he was opening up to her, something he rarely did, and she decided she’d hear what he had to say before confessing her feelings.

“After Houston and the divorce, all of that took so much out of me that I didn’t think I had anything left.” He stared ahead sadly. “But I followed Carla and Em up here and then Tubb called me, pulling me off the bench.” A small smile began to form on his face. “And then I met Cass.” He shook his head, grinning at the memory. Jenny suddenly wished that she had asked him and Cassie more about that first meeting. “I met you.” He turned that smile on her and she couldn’t help but return it. “And since then, everything feels like it’s slowly clicking into place. Like this year is gonna be a good one. Hell, I never thought I’d feel like this ever again. I figured I’d had my one shot and I’d royally screwed that up. But, life sure has a funny way of surprising you sometimes that’s for sure,” he ended with a chuckle.

Jenny tensed, feeling her one chance slipping away quickly. “Beau…”

He shot a smirk in her direction. “So, listen, if you want to get a bet going with Pop and the other deputies, that’s fine by me. And when you win, I’ll even pretend that I didn’t give you the inside track on you being the first to know about us. Denise may argue with you on that one, though.” He gave her a wink and went back to staring out the window, the conversation obviously over.

And there it was: Jenny had missed her chance. What could she say to that? Beau made it perfectly clear where his heart lied. If she said anything now, she would only complicate things and she would most likely lose her two best friends. Not to mention it would muddy up things at work. Why hadn’t she said something sooner? Now, it was too late.

She couldn’t help but think back to that whole wedding case she and Poppernak had worked a few months earlier.

“And I have decided that I am never getting married,” Poppernak swore.

Jenny shrugged. “For the right guy, I might try again.”

“The right guy…have you met him yet?”

Jenny hadn’t answered; instead, she had changed the subject and steered the topic back to the investigation. But deep down, she knew who she had been thinking about. She glanced over at the sheriff sadly, her eyes resting on his features. Features that Cassie would get to stare at openly, caress lovingly, and press kisses to whenever she chose. Those arms would hold her whenever she desired and those rough yet warm hands were hers to grab onto whenever the urge struck her. That cowboy wisdom and infectious laugh of his were now at her friend’s disposal should she need reassurance and comfort. His bright smile, his green gaze — while both of those had usually been focused on Cassie, it would have a different meaning now. Beau was dating Cassie, Beau had kissed Cassie, he implied that he was serious about Cassie and had feelings for her…might even love her. She loved Cassie herself but damn if this didn’t cut into her. Someone stabbing her might be kinder; the word heartbreak didn’t even begin to cover it.

“Yeah,” she whispered and went back to watching the road, accepting the inevitable. She wanted to get this interview over with just as quickly as Beau did. She was going to need a shit ton of ice cream and whiskey for this one.

A/N: Please let me know what you think. 😊

#beau x cassie #beau x cassie fanfiction #big sky fanfiction #prompt response #beau arlen #cassie dewell #beau and cassie #cassie and beau #beau arlen and cassie dewell #cassie dewell and beau arlen #beau arlen x cassie dewell #cassie dewell x beau arlen #big sky #big sky fandom

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